When you see her, tell her her daughter is tired but standing.Tell her the nights are long,and sometimes morning arrives without answers,but her child still wakes up hopeful. Tell her she is gratefulfor the hands that have held her through this season.She feels them every day,even when guilt dances on her faceand she doesn’t know… Continue reading Becoming
Still
The walls refuse to utter a word.No space to argue.Nothing to interrupt my thoughts.Just the clock moving slowly,and the light staying loyal. The couch remembers my weight.Nothing here asks me to speak.I sit bothered by the words left hanging,their silence heavier than sound. I fold anger into my handsand sit on it so it doesn’t… Continue reading Still
Closure – The Poem
Finally, my heart exhaled.A long breath she had been holding since love first taught her how to wait.Last night she sat with memories,looked them straight in the eye without fear,and asked them to speak.For a long time, I kept my heart on a shelf,tucked away with questions that refused to sleep.She wondered if love was… Continue reading Closure – The Poem
The Load
This load.Sometimes it takes up all the space in the room.It sits next to you, follows you around,refusing to be left behinduntil you start believing you're the only onebarely holding it together.This load,It breaks you until pain feels important.It walks around the room like it owns the place.For a moment,You don’t think about the woman… Continue reading The Load
Pieces of You
Some things you can’t burynot even in the pits of helland pretend they aren’t there. Like that piece of youyou want to rip offlike Dr. Jekyll trying to kill Hyde,put it aside,and act like it was never part of you. Because truth be told,it still lives somewhere.It’s just dormant.Quiet even. And with the slightest trigger,it… Continue reading Pieces of You
My Book is on Selar!
I wrote my poetry ebook, The Shape of Survival, over the better part of last year. It wasn’t something I sat down and wrote day after day, rushing to finish a book. No. I wrote these poems on different days, when life was happening to me.I never posted them anywhere. So I finally decided to… Continue reading My Book is on Selar!
Borrowed Wood
Some questions sound harmlessbecause they arrive dressed in curiosity,wearing a smile.Like asking what we bring to the table,as if we are plates,as if our worth only arrivescarrying a lid.The loud voices.The heavy expectations.I want a woman who cooks,who listens,who heals,who bends,who opens her bodylike a door that never creaks.They want a mother,a love,a counselor,a wife,and… Continue reading Borrowed Wood
Keep Going
It’s an hour to midnight.A new year is here.Keep going.Don’t stop.In a world full of expectations,my wish for you is simple,keep going.Keep going as you step into this new year.No pressure.No list.Just breath in your lungsand a heart that still hopes,even in silence.Keep going even when your resolutions fade by February,when the pages meant to… Continue reading Keep Going
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is here, and I know people are all over the place making plans—if they haven’t already. Like kesho. When the clock strikes midnight, there will be noise. Screams from balconies. Whistles. Fireworks bursting over estates and hotels. Someone’s car alarm will definitely go off for no reason. Nairobi will not sleep. This… Continue reading New Year’s Eve
Coping with Loss
I don’t know how people feel when they lose their partner, but I know the pain of losing someone close. It’s the kind of pain that just sits with you quietly. You can be fine, then suddenly you’re not.I lost my dad when I was six, and I can still tell you everything. From the… Continue reading Coping with Loss
Nancy Atieno's Notes 