(about Muthoni wa Kirima, late Kenyan freedom fighter and only female field marshall of the Mau Mau rebellion against the British Occupation in the 1950s)

liver of long life, mother to country
yet forgotten in the stale afterlife of independence
you made every floor your home —the side of the mountain/ the entrance of the statehouse
when there wasn’t land / left for the freedom fighters
who creates / to be dispossessed / of their creation?

i too have been young and hiding / inside myself / i too have let / my hair loc out of vengeance
out of knowing what i am owed
i too have posed for a camera / let the flash
take my black and make it,
oversaturated / outline / translucent / make it martyr
make it symbol of sacrifice
for masses who need my body for bullets

to you i offer an altar / to you i offer candles and bowls of all sizes
of abandoned coffee mugs / of books unread and peeping neighbors and visitors who
find it odd that i would paint someone who
looks like me / as you offer my mother’s cheekbones and the names of my shame and shyness

muthoni you were cursed to be the first / lived long enough to be forgotten / to be a new kind of a villain,
a childless woman who gave / birth to freedom and / not flesh / your curse is my blessing, muthoni/ a deep pride as i walk out of my home
and see you looking far into the future where i am —free, like you dreamed i would be

-

Rwĩmbo rwa Muthoni

(translation of the above poem in my native Gikũyũ of Central Kenya)

mũciarĩre wa muoyo wa ihinda iraya, nyina kũrĩ bũrũri
na no kũriganĩrwo nĩ ũndũ wa wĩyathi / ũtuĩte o gĩtina gĩaku gĩikaro gĩaku— mũkuru wa kĩrĩma
Kĩhingo kĩa nyũmba ya thirikari / hĩndĩ ĩrĩa gũtaarĩ na thĩ nyũmũ / mathiaga kũrĩ njamba cia wĩyathi ũrĩa wombire / kũingatwo / ũrĩa ciombirũo?

O na niĩ ndarĩ mũndũ mwĩthĩ na nĩ ndĩrahithire / thĩinĩ wakwa / O na niĩ nĩ ndetĩkĩtie
njuĩrĩ yakwa ĩgĩtumwo nĩ ũndũ wa kwĩrĩhĩria / Nĩ ũndũ wa kwaga kũmenya kĩrĩa njagĩrĩirwo
O na niĩ nĩ ngoretwo na kamera / reke ũtheri ũcio ũthereme
oyéé ũirũ wakwa ũmethodeke, / ĩiyũirũo nĩ maĩ maingĩ / kĩĩruru / ũtheru/ ĩtuĩke mũthĩnjĩri Ngai
ĩtuĩke kĩmenyithia kĩa igongona / nĩ ũndũ wa andũ arĩa mabataraga mwĩrĩ wakwa ũtuĩke wa mĩcinga

nĩndakũrutĩire igongona / Nĩndakũrutĩire matawa na mbakũri cia mĩthemba yothe
cia macani ma kahua marĩa matigĩtwo / mabuku marĩa matathomĩtwo na gũcũthĩrĩria andũ arĩa maikaraga hakuhĩ na ageni arĩa
Nĩ wonaga ũrĩ ũndũ wa magegania atĩ ingĩhaka mũndũ
ũhaanaine na niĩ / o ta ũrĩa ũheanaga mahĩndĩ ma ũthiũ wa nyina na marĩĩtwa ma / thoni na thoni ciakwa

Muthoni wee nĩ ũrahĩirwo ũtuĩke wa mbere / nĩatũũrire ihinda iraya mũno nginya makĩriganĩrũo
gũtuĩka mũndũ mũũru wa mũthemba ũngĩ / mũtumia ũtaarĩ na ciana ũrĩa waheanaga
gũciarũo wĩyathi na, ti nyama / Kĩrumi gĩaku nĩ kĩrathimo gĩakwa, Muthoni / ndĩ na mwĩtĩo mũnene rĩrĩa ndoima mũciĩ
na ũkoona ũgĩcũthĩrĩria mũno ihinda rĩũkĩte / harĩa ndĩ, wĩyathi o ta ũrĩa wĩriragĩria / ũrĩa ũngĩendire. 

Thank you to Steve Matundura for the Gikũyũ translation audio! <3

Published July 6, 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.