Quarterly Colour was an amazing anthology (amazing if I say so myself) I think you should give it a read when you can. Thx. DD

1. indigo smoothees

2. the Quarterly Colour SerieS of Poetry©
S i x t h e d i t i o n •a P r i l 2008
Compiled and published by Al Kags Trust
Design & Layout by Indigo Design
Poetry by • Al Kags • Am’mi Eyal • Daniel D’uwa • Hapi Shakti
Jaques Datus • Maik kwambo • Ngwatilo • Vee

3. foreword
Indigo Smoothees is the sixth edition of the Quarterly Colour Series that is published every three months by Al Kags. The first five
editions were Gray Spots, Blue Smudges, Red Streaks, Green Piece and Brown Steps. All of these eBooks can be downloaded from
The Al Kags Trust Web site: www.alkags.com.
Indigo Smoothees is about the necessary conversations that people all over the world need to be having with each other. From Pakistan,
to Kenya to the USA to Mexico and Australia, long standing issues abide that need for people to have sober long discussions. In this
book, you will find poetry from Palestine – an important piece by Am’mi Eyal – and more from other parts of the world. We received
poetry from Germany, USA, Pakistan, South Africa, Ghana and the United Kingdom but we found that much of it was off topic and some
of it was way too angry or cynical.
The Quarterly Colour Series continues to grow from strength to strength as more and more poets from around the world submit their
poetry for the books and its distribution crossing the 200,000 mark with brown steps. This success we have you to thank.
The Quarterly Colour Series is a poetry eBooks series that is published by Al Kags. The whole objective of the series is to provide poets
with a platform on which they can share their work freely and without prejudice and to provide the rest of the world with the spiritual
nourishment that only poetry can give.
The poetry is shared virally over email from one person to another, free of charge and free of prejudice. The rules are pretty simple. You
may read, recite, share, forward, republish – indeed do what you want with the poetry. All you must do is to share it free of charge and
acknowledge the poet and the book where you found it.
Al Kags
Founder, The Al Kags Trust
www.alkags.com

4. So lets sit & talk
because now
we must get along,
get on with our lives
pick up where we left off
take up the chain & walk
into the light of the horizon

5. it’s been too long
am’mi eyal • palestine
It’s been too long, sir
lets now sit by the coffee house
And have a chat
we have argued loudly
For much too long
So long that we missed our children growing
So much that we missed our daughters laughing
We have argued loudly
And we have not talked
It’s been too long, akhoya
Since as boys we played in Gaza
Blissfully unaware
of the difference between you and me,
Not aware that in a few years
We shall have one thing in common
- Both of us shall be in the middle of crosshairs
Come, sir lets now sit and have coffee
We need to talk
It’s been too long, sir
And I am tired and old
And my daughters are dead as are your sons
And I have nothing to show for it
But scars and tears and ruins
That my heart and yours have bourn
These many years
It’s been too long, sir
Come, Chaver, come saheeb
Let’s now sit back
And contemplate the hot street
Together by the shade
And let our sisters clean together
For it really has been, much too long.

6. are you there?
al kags • kenya
Are you there?
Do you now sleep as you did when you were a child?
Do you dream the dreams of innocence as you did before?
Do you not see my eyes as you did when you took my life?
Do you not hear my cries as my head you slashed?
Are you there?
Do you imagine that just because my heart beats no more
I will release you from the memory of your actions? Do you
think that just because the blood has run out of my body into
the ground I shall free your mind to move into the future with
song and dance? Do you think you are free? Do you think you
can live as I cannot because my breath no longer courses
through my lungs?
Are you there?
You must come to me now. You must talk with me and seek
forgiveness from me and from yourself. You must now speak
amongst each other and agree lest my blood speaks to you.
I will not go until you talk.
Are you listening?
www.alkags.com

7. dialogue.
maik kwambo • kenya
position
it allows you and me dialogue means discovering new possibilities and oppor-
to connect… tunities
to connect on a deeper level
brother…sister
it calls for strength and tolerance let us be tolerant…let us dialogue
which are cordial partners Kenya is not Kikuyu…Luo…Luhya..Kalenjin
in the quest… Kenya is Kenya…you and me..let us dialogue
in the quest to be victorious in life
from dialogue comes tolerance
when we dialogue and from tolerance
you and me… one day…one day
we dispel distrust peace will reign supreme
creating a climate of good faith
let us be forgiving
dialogue is about learning let us be tolerant
assuming that others also have pieces to the answer let us be compassionate
attempting to find common understanding let us dialogue
trying to find common ground
its about
admitting that others thinking can improve your own
its about searching for strengths and values in the other
www.kenyanexpressions.wordpress.com

8. valentine in the rift
jaques datus • kenya
In a skip of Joy
I would like to hug you
But no arms
Sliced and cut
On a Valentine day
My Love
In a skip of joy
I would like to dance with you
But legs amputated
Hit by poison arrows
On a valentine day
My Love
I would like to stare at you admire you
But I can hardly see you
My eyes tear – gassed
On a Valentine day
My love
I lost everything
But my unbroken heart to love you
My lips and smile
To tell you once more
On a Valentine day
You are the most precious thing left to me
My love

9. stark reality
vee • kenya
tears running down my face
I’m saddened by the violence
escalating at an erratic pace
closing my eyes i imagine
long lost innocence
my country - no longer a virgin
trigger happy police cock gun
dramatically jumping from truck
scared men & women run
before their backs are struck
child’s lips speak despair
of lost family, singed flesh,
smoke still rising in the air
of politician’s narrowed scope
unquenched desires in their hearts
now the voter’s stolen hope
what do you mean division of power?
asks the man with the weapon
as he awaits the promised hour
but revenge leaves him desolate
chilling fear begins to devour
as in the bloody hands… he sees his own fate
ww.violasiris.wordpress.com

10. modern girl
hapi shakti • chennai india
I am a modern girl
You will never see me in a Sari
Except for when I am back home
In my mother’s homestead
I am much more comfortable
In my tight skirt to show off my hot legs
And my wonderbra to show off my freedom
I am a career girl
I don’t waste time skimming milk
Even when I am in my father’s farm
No, I work at a call centre
Speaking English like an American
Enunciating my new found lifestyle
I am a modern girl
I speak well and I’m exposed
I dress hot and I’m exposed
I sashay and from my little ass
You can tell,
I am a modern girl, like them
In New York, London and Paris
Now if you could say hi not Namaste
And teach me how to nod
Or shake my head
My education would be complete.

11. impregnate me please
daniel duwa • kenya
I see you
I hear you not
The noise between us
Is too deafening
I see your lips moving
But I hear none of it
I care not too listen
It interest me not
So I ignore you
Perhaps just maybe my fear is
I would learn a thing or two
If I cared enough to listen
If I care, you would care too
Then perhaps
Words would flow freely
Love, hate, like, dislike
We’d tongues and life would pregnant.

12. heard: traffic light monologue
ngwatilo • kenya
Aggh! Yaani vile watoi siku hizi hawana haya – no respect – wakinigongagonga hapa na mawe! Its just good they can’t
pick up the cement flower-pots of Margaret Kenyatta. Kama angefufuka, akuwe Mayor tena?! Mwenye yuko City Hall
angesema what he has been doing all this time.
Ni kama the whole institution imedecide au imejiconvince kwamba Kenya yetu haiendi mahali. Wanatuwaste yaani.
Sijui boss aliget gari mpya and he just looked at it. Now forty years have passed, gari imeget rust, mara HIV imepanda,
Ebola hupitianga... The thing is hii gari yetu, wanasemanga it does not operate in a closed system. Unanielewa? Gearbox
ikidecide dere hajui chenye anado; anaweza hama. Uliza Bernard Lagat. Atakushow. Kidogo tutasikia there’s a portion
of the States breaking off kwa sababu ya Wakenya. Na wasilete: everyone in Stato is an immigrant isipokuwa Native
Americans. I.N.S ikitaka iende iwaulize Wayahudi, yaani the Jews, tena wale wao, wataambiwa five hundred years
means nothing when you’re talking about ancestral land ties.
Shida ya wasee hapa Campo, na mayouth generally, ni vile wanajua kuna kitu funny inahappen, they know. But they
don’t know the root of the problem; na iko deep bana, iko deep so that hata kama wachimbe, wachimbue na wa-
chomoe “marecommendations,” there will be no change. Si hawa ni wasomi? Probably wameona the most productive
thing to do ni kutupa mawe. On my side naona at least ni wafupi wafupi. Imagine kama wangekuwa wamejenga
kama Black Americans, kama Shaq hivi, hizo maflowerpots zingekuwa airborne kama ball, labda wangeningoa wani-
tumie kama rungu au kahockey stick. Kidogo umwone Lillian wa M-O 1 akitimua! He! He! He! Taimagine!
ii
Watoi wamevaa tu cotton, si kama polisi hawa nyumangu, and I know they are behind me hata ka’ siwezi turn kuwa-
ona I know they are there, nawasikia wakisweat, wakimarch na nguo zao zote, mashati bullet-proof na shields, ati ‘Gusa
Serikali Uone’ – Come on!
Haya: wameanza.

13. We have a hunger of the mind which asks for
knowledge of all around us, and the more we
gain, the more is our desire; the more we see,
the more we are capable of seeing.
Maria Mitchell