The Old Ones Knew

The old ones knew, what was good and what was new

The yellow ones came and called them godless, primitive

The old ones knew to worship God who lives

Among the ones he created was to care

For that which the Creator laid bare

And that which Creator left well hid

With equal measure and grace

The old ones knew the mountain 

Was to be left undisturbed, its glistening might

Shinning in the African sun at first light

Shrouded by the rain bearing clouds  

And hugged by the stars of a darkened night

The mountain had its dwellers

Shy, industrious short ones

Of funny ways and thick tongues

Darting in and out of the intricate design of tree and shrub 

Creating paths and traps with tendrils of plants

The old ones knew 

This was hallowed ground

But the yellow ones came and called them godless, clueless

They climbed the mountains

Slaughtering beast and forest dwellers alike

For the vanity claim of conquest 

Of a mountain that was Africa’s highest

They pissed in the rivers

Decimated the trees

Chased away the bees 

The old ones watched with 

Horror and shivers

For they knew this new

Was degradation and environmental suicide

The yellow ones called them godless, stupid

And used their magic sticks of fire

On the fighting men and women

Once Lord Hall set up fort

Metumi stood no chance

Like one possessed he drove

Cattle and goats from the old and young

The women, raped for sport

The chiefs overthrew all sorts

The councils of elders met, seeking peace,

The yellow ones tricked them,  incarcerated 

Or annihilated them

The cries of mothers and mountain

Mingled into one blood river

Iregi, Ndemi, Mathathi, all fighting men

Herded to slaughter like oxen

The beautiful waters of thagana and mathioya filled

With red soil from erosion and red blood from the people

The old ones knew the Creator

Had given the beautiful earth for us to care

But the yellow ones called them godless, uncivilised

Eons have gone but the pain

of the mountain and forests

Is louder now than before

Mathioya and thagana shadows of their mighty selves

Still filled with water mixed with rich earth

The mīnyua-maī trees drink greedily 

Everything in the realm making dry

The earth no longer grows

Ndúma, beans and ngwacī

Without additives and fertiliser

All the goodness of the land washed away to the sea

The seas are boiling

The fish are dying

The mountains crying

The old ones knew to serve the Creator 

Is to tend His creation, all of it

With attention and care, love and respect

Honest labour and awe

But the yellow ones called them godless

Uncivilised brutes, disdained their darkened skins

While they sowed destructive seeds

And today we all are boiling. 

The old ones knew.