Sikiliza

Diani South Coast My love for you feels like my naked feet sinking in soft cushy grassy patches I immerse myself in you like plunging deep into a pool of cool water These delicious sensations render me alive, awake and aware All of me is submerged and meshed in a tight weave of our world I live for the tease of your smile and the warm of your laughter In your arms and your love I form into the finest version of myself Your unreserved adoration shields me from the unkind and punishing world My gaze and embrace holds yours giving me a renewed strength to face all Discovering you elevated me from frivolity to finding purpose and meaning Loving you all day every day and night I find happiness You epitomise life-giving tenderness to me and you are my most precious gift I thank the stars that aligned us to meet, connect and live this sapphic love -->

"Color me life" Self portrait Sikiliza  (June 2017) Lead us to the cliff with our feet tittering at the edges Feel the wind blow a cold sting on our cheeks Our minds lay bare to bottomless indulgences of love so intense Our bodies filled with intimation of unfamiliar and unexpected longing Dreams flooded with delightful and endless possibilities Gloriously tasting the prospects of what seems like a path of happiness. But alas both feet sink on the ground fast and hard And we stir to the sudden and shattering sensation Some call reality And the mist starts to clear as fast as it crept in Revealing a grand and elaborate illusion of what could be…but isn’t. What remains palpable is the heartache While musing on the purpose of such cruel intentions Let us learn that we are not numbed from hurt because we live. So color us oh unrelenting life Thankful you picked us as the canvas Of this your masterwork. With strokes, etches, ridges, r...

Sage Smudge Enough with this nonsense. Not when lives are at stake. I have had it up to hear with ‘rape jokes’, ‘sexist jokes’, body shaming and the casual normalisation of making a mockery of women and their daily struggles and lived realities. This running for Women’s Rep stunt by Maina Kageni of Kenya’s hard earned affirmative action seats to try and at the very least acknowledge and restore some historical injustices that prevented women from being voices of influence and decision making in this country. It took two decades, insurmountable resources, blood and guts to get a semblance of equity in terms of gender equality in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. It is not perfect and we have a long way to go to adjust our attitudes and norms particularly around women in political leadership but this was a huge moment in the long arduous journey. We got our independence in 1963 and it was not until 1969 that we got the first elected woman Member of Parliament. Several wom...