Thursday, August 4

Kenya : A remix of Allen Ginsberg's "America"

Kenya, I have been you and now I am Kikuyu
I was all of us and now I am them
I am the enemy within the friend

I have bought a loaf of bread for 5 shillings
I held out my hand in ’92 and cried DP! – Kobole!
Kenya I wanted only four kids,
All of them legitimate
Kenya I need to afford a condom
My wife wants to see me ejaculate
Get me some pills

Kenya, my grandfather drove out the white man
Next year is 2012 and I hope the white man remembers it
Somebody will try to kill me
And somebody will kill for me
I will be hungry and I will need USAID

I want to give my Kikuyu name as my CV
I want to be prime minister for being a commentator
Am an octogenarian, make me president
I say nothing when I say it best, make me the government spokesman

Kenya I am young, I am tomorrow’s leader
Tomorrow is the day after I die
I went to school, Kenya
And Kenya, you made Kalembe Ndile my employer
AIDs wants to kill me
I want to abstain, Kenya
But prostitutes are cheap
And Kenya I don’t like the gay man looking at my ass

Kenya my cousin is dying of hunger in North Eastern
I will be shot by a policeman or a thug in Nairobi
My friend had an accident on the way to Kisumu
Kenya I know life ends in death
But Kenya, why won’t I die fat and old in my sleep?