Poems of war

War has always defined and refined our existence.

Soldiers sharing a cigarette in the trenches. Photo: Courtesy

During this times, many have found gems in writing down the emotions and distortions of war, the brutality and tragedy of conflict and the unfathomable loss and grief it drags along.

Here are some of my favorite poems that tell it all;

Here dead we lie, by A. E. Housman

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.
 

My Boy Jack, by Rudyard Kipling

"Have you news of my boy Jack?"
Not this tide.
"When d’you think that he’ll come back?"
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

"Has any one else had word of him?"
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

"Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?"
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind —
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

                                                                                                                                                   Courtesy 

Bulldogs: Russia needs the United States and vice versa.



Jet Fighter. Photo: Courtesy

To many, the relationship between the United States and Russia is that of two bulldogs separated by a chain fence barking at each other daily in a show of force and control in a contest to see who does it loudest and longest.

The problem with the plan however is that the two cannot jump over their fences and get ‘it’ done away with but rather prefer to make noise to the whole neighborhood.

Truth be told, it is of interest to the rest of the world that the two super powers continue to bark at each other and continue to exist for balance, rather than plunge the rest of the world in an abyss of war.

According to analysts, Russia needs America and vice versa to counter balance any ounce of vacuum that may be usurped by other threatening powers that are on the rise today such as ISIS.

In theory, any power vacuum has to be occupied with something or someone thus it’ll be safer to have the two bark at each other since they know each other well-somehow the rest of the world has gotten by anyway- rather than rise one morning and face a new gun barrel aimed at the world.

The uncertainty of a future without the two is currently untenable.

The rest of the world has to look and re-examine closely the roles of each in the modern era and recognize that it is in our best interest any friction zones be it political, economic, social etc do not escalate into a full blown crisis that we may not wake up from.

In any case the United States and its NATO allies do not foresee Russia and her friends exiting the stage soon nor is the US in any hurry to let Russia or China tow the next boat of world leader.

In short, peace is the option of the two bulldogs. Which is good news for everyone.

At least for now.

The allure of a naked Olympics

Olympics. Photo: Courtesy

 

“The day is just dry!” Said a fellow journalist as he pulled a chair next to my desk.

“These, are the Rio Olympics hangovers, they should have lengthened the naked Olympics after the main event for crying out loud, aha, I tell you,” he mumbled as he tore into his daily schedule.

This got me thinking. Naked Olympics for a whole week, month, possibly a year?

It’s actually possible considering that Rio presented the spectacle a week ago with events attracting nude competitors participating in football, beach volleyball, swimming and sprinting. Mmmh.

Proponents of the sport have put forth the argument that this has nothing to do with sexuality, but just the continuation of the original Ancient Greek games where all competitors were stark naked.

And it is just a celebration of our bodies, enthusiasm to be free and an embrace to positivity and healthy living. Well, you can’t beat that until you flip open the debacle that is on everyone’s mind.

The trick is not on the participation itself considering that the sports listed above are not individual events but rather the mumbo jumbo that some participating countries and individuals will be navigating in.

For a fact, granted that individuals who may want to participate may have confidence extensions like NASA rocket boosters to space, most Islamic countries and other conservative nations or groups will prefer to shoot you into space and end their misery rather than let you ‘dangle’ everything for the world to see.

That’s harsh you may say, but take a snap back memory lane in other Olympics and you’ll find that even the just concluded ‘normal’ Olympics in Rio Brazil also presented a challenge to some countries be it in terms of dress, gender,  general stereotypes etc.

It will all come down to the nudity in the sport. The option of not looking at the participants ‘goodies’ either the millions of spectators or by other competitors. The ogling will be the sport!

For other progressive countries and individuals, this presents a new dimension to sport, spectator delight and a grand flare in competition. Tokyo Olympics 2020 is just a corner away.

 Best of luck!

Africa: The next frontier

Nelson Mandela. Photo: Courtesy

Calvin Coolidge was right when he said that all growth depends upon activity and that there is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.

Africa in recent years has shaded off the old skin of developmental bareness, intellectual stunted growth and lackluster effort in trying to race the rest of the world economically, socially and politically.

It is not lost on the world that Africa holds a big junk of the next frontier on growth and offers a fundamental plate to the world to capitalize on the next great resurgence in terms of development due to its untapped potential.

Africa should thus look outward and slide out of the veneer that it has closed itself in and rise to the occasion that world dynamics are changing and the eyes of the world are now at its back just like the scramble and partition of Africa centuries ago.

The twist however is that this time round Africa has to decide its part of the future on itself. Leaders and all citizenry in the large African continent must stand and grab the opportunity and refuse to be held back by the chains of corruption, anchors of poverty and weights of civil strife and war.

The decisions for the greater tomorrow by Africa are the steps to align policy today, reformulate agendas to suit the tomorrow you want and the laying of sound structural frameworks to protect those aspirations.

As the great son of Africa Nelson Mandela said that sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great and that you can be that great generation, it is incumbent upon everyone to dare and push Africa forward. Africa is on the move.

 

Kenyan bureaucracy cost us Froome

 There is nothing worse in the recent past that makes any Kenyan flinch and curse in the air than watching the cycling legend of Christopher Clive Froome blossom.

 To any Kenyan patriot, the red tape policy that pushed him away from Kenya is killing ingenuity and progress.

  It fails one to understand how each time Kenya fails to tap into the pool of talent across board then start cursing the dark when exceptional services of great athletes like Froome ride into the sunset draped in flags of other accommodating nations.

Froome was born in Nairobi Kenya, went to Banda School, spoke fluent Swahili and his first team was the safari simba to say the least. He was discovered by another Kenyan cycling legend David Kinjah for speaking out loud.

  Is it too much to ask?

 No it is not. Kenya failed to reciprocate his talent with better facilities and seriousness that his sport required.

Some may argue that he was more or else an expatriate considering his heritage and his story could go either way.

I beg to differ. Froome could be any of us. There is a lot of emphasize in this country on athletics and football is appalling. Does it mean that if you are talented in other sports you become a charity case?

Froome’s early years as a struggling Kenyan born Briton who wanted nothing but  to ride a bike and rise to become what he is to day riding under the Union Jack should awaken the bureaucrat in any office.

Now let us sit back and flip the remote as he wins Tour De France 2016 reminiscing awkwardly that he was one of us.

 Sad, so sad.