Christopher Okemwa is a lecturer of Literature at Kisii University, Kenya. He holds a PhD in performance poetry from Moi University, Kenya. He is the founder and current director of Kistrech International Poetry Festival in Kenya. He is also the founder and director of KICHLA (Kistrech Children’s Literature Association) of Kenya. He has published eight volumes of poetry, three children’s story books, two novels, one collection of short stories, one play, three oral literature text books & ten folktales of the Abagusii people of Kenya. His novella, Sabina and the Mystery of the Ogre, won Canadian Burt Award for African Literature in 2015. Its sequel, Sabina the Rain Girl, was published in 2019. He has edited five poetry anthologies. He has translated into Swahili language four works of international poets. His poetry has been translated to Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Serbian, Polish, Turkish, Spanish, Catalan, Armenian, Chinese, Czech, Arabic and Nepalese.
Valentine’s Day
Having missed you on Valentine’s Day
I went back home, wan and grey
With nothing much for me to say
The little rose with a bright hue
Is now sullen, drooping
Seemingly mourning the absence of you
Don’t wait till all leaves drop, dear
And the stem remain empty and bare
It will be to make love glare with fear
Come on and water it, this symbol of love
Being part of it, oh sweetest dear
You know better how to retrieve the withering life.
