In: Anthology

Moon Houses – Dorothy Kigen

 

I burnt my finger on the last blunt
Watched the henna vine around my ankle
Wonder if it’ll taste grassy when he kisses it
If the salt will wash away before he sees me
If he’ll find the sand in my cracks

 

I read Derek Walcott on a bed of Lamu Green
Saw the scenes pixel in the typewriter ink
Poems stolen from the Internet to spread open on my screen
Island words for a shadow clear sea
Woke up at 3 to bring myself in
From the shelter of the stars and the whisper-woven wind
Daybed turned nightbed turned
Starbed fronds of Milky Way
Seen again for the first time
Though it’s not like I went anywhere in the in-between.


Dorothy Kigen is a 31-year-old female-identifying Kenyan with a sensible day job and a life-long love of the written word. Years of intermittent writing have left a trail of her blog posts, timelines, and at least one niche Tumblr scattered across the Internet. She intends to consolidate what can be salvaged into a manuscript. Her interests include feminism, literature, and pop culture.


				

Donate to 20.35 Africa

At 20.35 Africa, we seek to build towards the future of African letters that our readers, contributors, and staff deserve – one that uplifts living African poets from all over the continent and the diaspora. This effort is sustained by a committed team whose work is mostly pro bono. 20.35 Africa has thus thrived over the years through the sheer passion of its members, who share an understanding of the imperative position of their work. The other half of that work is you and we hope you will help us continue building into the future with your contributions. 

Your generous support helps us pay for the administrative and general operating costs of running this organization. We want to thank you in advance for supporting living African poets and the pursuit of crafting a new contemporary voice, a collection of voices. Our publications remain free and open to the public for consumption. Your generosity and continuous support make all of this possible.

@AfricanPoetry

Zelle-logo

donate@2035africa.org