Grevillea tree

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Grevillea tree

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Short rains
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

The grevillea robusta is one of the most common trees in Nairobi and the Highlands of Kenya. It is not cultivated for its looks, but more for its uses, as it grows straight and tall and produces good timber, both for building and for firewood.

It is quite common for large branches of this tree to be cut down with pangas, leaving the rest of the tree to recover and continue to grow. Few Kenyans notice the flowers of this tree, related to the protea of South Africa, as these are often hidden among the foliage and high up from the ground, and coincide with those of the far more showy jacaranda and tipu trees.



Photo and text © Isabelle Prondzynski


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Grevillea Robusta
Exotic, native to Eastern Australia

Names : Mgrivea (Swahili), Mûkima (Kikuyu)

A semi-deciduous, naturalised tree reaching 20m or more in height, very fast-growing, widely plantedat altitudes of 1,200 m above sea level. It does best in areas of deep soil and good rainfall, but tolerates poorer soils.

Bark : Dark grey; rough; furrowed vertically.
Leaves : Distrinctive; deeply divided, fern-like, up to 3 cm long, leathery olive-green above, silky silvery grey below, fallen leaves grey, stiff, slow to decompose.
Flowers : Numerous; in one-sided golden orange spikes up to 12 cm in length; showy.
Fruit : Dark capsules, about 1 cm long, with slender beaks, young capsule grey-green in colour; splits to release two winged seeds.
Uses : The timber is tough and durable, used for quality furniture, veneer / plywood, fuel, posts, fencing and wooden toys. Leaves serve as fodder.

~ Najma Dharani, Field Guide to common trees and shrubs of East Africa, Struik Publishers, Cape Town 2002.

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Grevillea flower
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


grevillea boughs
stand bare in the mist --
grey sky

saw-dust scented air
on Landhies road --
fallen grevilleas

Muthurwa food vendors
filling sacks with saw dust --
whirring power saw

a bulldozer bites log
after log to load the lorries --
sliced grevillea

outdoor class --
an uprooted grevillea
on the school roof


~ Patrick Wafula



a dry carpet
of grevillea leaves-
Landhies Road


fallen grevillea--
a sculptor whittles a cooking spoon
from a stump

~ Andrew Otinga


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Grevillea leaves
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski


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a dove cooing
in a leafy grevillea --
still dawn

Patrick Wafula in Arusha, June 2011


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Related words

***** . Trees in Kenya


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Monkey, monkeys

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Monkey, monkeys

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

Kenya national park monkeys. In Kenya animal safari, you will see a lot of different monkey species including the
baboons, bush baby, vervet, Blue (Samango) Monkey, colobus and others.
source : www.buzzle.com


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HAIKU

revellers playing
with monkeys at City Park
peace on their faces

Patrick Wafula

Peace Haiku, 2006

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a lone monkey drinks
from a puddle on the roadside--
Kakamega forest

Patrick Wafula, Kisii in Nyanza


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a monkey carrying a baby
snatches bread from a student --
picnic in Hell's Gate

Patrick Wafula, Hell's Gate



hot afternoon --
a monkey snatches a piece of biscuit
from my hand

Angeline Muthoki


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monkey playground --
a brown carpet of pine
needles

Patrick Wafula, Arboretum Kukai 2008

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scratching --
a monkey leans
on a broken branch

Andrew Otinga


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a monkey appears
in the shade of a tree --
our biscuits!



Haiku and Photo from Isabelle Prondzynski

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missing the catch --
a monkey jumping from a tree
falls down

Khadijah Rajab

MORE
. Monkey haiku from Nairobi Park, January 2012 .


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. MORE
Monkey Haiku from Kenya 　


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Related words

***** WKD : Monkey (saru)


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Uganda - Kampala

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Uganda

***** Location: Uganda
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation

Kabaka of Uganda

The Kabaka is the king of the Baganda (Uganda). He gave the seven hills of Kampala to the most important organisations of the country :
the hospital, the university, the Anglican Cathedral, the Catholic Cathedral, administrative offices and his own palace.


seven hills
each given by the Kabaka --
each a special place

Isabelle Prondzynski


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quote
The kingdom of Buganda intermittently pressed for independence from Uganda, which raised the question of the protectorate’s future status. Discussions in London in 1961 led to full internal self-government in March 1962. Benedicto Kiwanuka, a Roman Catholic Muganda who was formerly chief minister, became the first prime minister, but in the elections in April 1962 he was displaced by Milton Obote a Lango (Langi) who headed the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party.

At further discussions in London in June 1962, it was agreed that Buganda should receive a wide degree of autonomy within a federal relationship. Faced with the emergence of Obote’s UPC, which claimed support throughout the country apart from Buganda, and of the Democratic Party (DP), which was based in Buganda and led by Kiwanuka, conservative Ganda leaders set up their own rival organization, Kabaka Yekka (KY), “King Alone.”





Uganda became independent on October 9, 1962, although it was divided politically on a geographic as well as an ethnic basis. By accepting a constitution that conceded what amounted to federal status to Buganda, Obote contrived an unlikely alliance with the Ganda establishment.

MORE
source : uganda-visit-and-travel-guide



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Kampala —
women in gomesi
kneel to greet us

matoke lunch —
our legs are stretched
on the floor mat


Jinja Dam —
silent deep water turning
mighty turbines

Patrick Wafula
July 2011

Owen Falls Dam Jinja Kenya
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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seeing a fenesi
for the first time —
Iganga Forest


polluted lake -
a reeking stench hits
our noses

. Kampala Diaries March 2012 .
Patrick Wafula

fenesi, jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



The River Nile at Jinja Bridge


. MORE - Photos from the trip .


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Related words

***** WKD : Personal Names and Haiku


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Machakos

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Machakos, Eastern Kenya

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation


Also known as Masaku.




Machakos is a town in Kenya, 64 kilometres southeast of Nairobi. It is the capital of the Machakos District in Eastern Province of Kenya. Machakos Town is a major rural centre, and also a satellite town due to its proximity to Nairobi. Its population is rapidly growing and is 192,117 (as of 2009). People who live here are mostly the Akambas though it is a cosmopolitan town. Machakos is surrounded by hilly terrain, with a high number of family farms.

Machakos was established in 1887, ten years before Nairobi. Machakos was the first administrative centre for the British colony, but they moved the capital of Kenya to Nairobi in 1899 since Machakos by-passed the Uganda Railway that was under construction. Town and the district were named after Masaku, an Akamba chief.

Machakos open air market. Fruits, vegetables and other food stuffs like maize mbemba, beans mboso, etc. are sold here. Major market days are Mondays and Fridays.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



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HAIKU


road accident-
torn sacks spill green
mangoes in blood

hot sun-
smelly sweat in
the matatu

weaverbirds' nests
swinging on an acacia-
dusty wind

blue hills-
tasling maize wilting
on terraced farms

naked herdsboys
lying flat on a rock to dry-
slow stream

Patrick Wafula

from a dry Machakos, Eastern Kenya.

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A trip by Andrew Otinga


Machakos terminus-
an enthusiastic tout
grabs my bag

a long que
to the empty bus-
Friday rush

a pregnant mother
boards at Kangemi stage-
another stop

hot ride-
i suddenly fall in
a deep slumper

shoulder tap-
im woken by a tout
for my receipt

a display of
withered cypress seedlings-
Luanda Market

acacia blossoms
sprinkle on the tarmac-
sudden breeze

thick smoke
from burning maize stalks-
shamba preparation

the rhythmic
sound of digging hoes-
sweating workers

the smell
of fresh cow dung-
sudden breeze

a giant beetle
rolling dung balls-
cattle shed

tethering-
our black calf browsing
on dry grass

his marble rolls
into a cracked surface-
dusty hands

- Andrew Otinga, February 2012


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Related words

***** Nairobi


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First Things

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First Things

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Various
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation


First things can be done for the first time in the New Year, or at the first time they happen at any other time of the year.



First rainfall, imminent rain



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. First things in all seasons 　　


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


. first for 2011 - Introduction


. from the Bamboochas


. from Brian Etole


. from Andrew Otinga


. from Patrick Wafula


. from Caleb Mutua


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Related words

***** First things (hatsumono) Japan


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Mbea Tanzania

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Mbea Tanzania

TBA

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a lone Maasai
herdsman in the dust--
dry wind




piles of stone--
dry grass rustling in
dusty wind

round hammock--
the winding dusty
road

his akala sandals
sinking into hot dust--
herdsman



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Longitudo

For a long time since I started my Arusha trips in 2007, I had not understood a certain phenomenon at one of the places along the way. This place is called Longitudo. There is a small mountain here which is very dry right from the slopes to the top; so are the expansive plains around the mountain. But during the rain season, when I was there in April, the plains were green and swampy. The puzzle is how can this mountain and all the swamps that I saw in April be so dry, forming the dustiest spots in the vicinity?

Well, I don’t mean as in the grass is missing and you can see the dust. No. The grass is right there, but it is brown dead and very dry. The other puzzle is there is no human habitation within so many kilometers surrounding this mountain. It was Aisha, the Tanzanian lady in the car who unraveled this puzzle for me:

Mount Longitudo is an active volcano whose tremors cause earthquakes as far as Nairobi as it happened in 2007.



Longitude plains--
a carpet of dead brown grass
covered in dust


a grey cloud
hangs on the sleeping crater—
Longitudo mountain




Barren Longitudo Plain, Mbea



Look at more
. PHOTO ALBUM from Patrick Wafula 　



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Related words

***** WKD : Reference


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Animal Orphanage

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Nairobi Animal Orphanage

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Nairobi Animal Orphanage
is the oldest animal orphanage in Kenya and set in Nairobi National Park with lush vegetation contrasting against the red dust and clay of the soil.

Established in 1964 as a refuge and rehabilitation centre for wild animals found abandoned or injured throughout Kenya, the unique facility records over 200,000 thousand visitors every year. Animals received at the facility, undergo a thorough medical examination, followed by treatment where that is called for, before entering into an appropriate feeding and rehabilitation program.

Nairobi Animal Orphanage is the oldest animal orphanage in Kenya and set in Nairobi National Park with lush vegetation contrasting against the red dust and clay of the soil. This important educational and training facility, which is housed, in the only wildlife protected area in a capital city in the world is often home to more than 20 different animals and bird species.
source : www.magicalkenya.com


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green grass--
a cub and a baby leopard
playing together

Patrick Wafula


Look at more photos from Patrick:


Donkey or Zebra?



Leopard




Part of Nairobi National Park Forest.



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Related words

***** . Nairobi City



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Marabou storks

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Marabou storks

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation

The Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus,
is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It breeds in Africa south of the Sahara, occurring in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially waste tips. It is sometimes called the "undertaker bird," due to its shape from behind: cloak-like wings and back, skinny white legs, and sometimes, a large white mass of "hair."

Like most storks, the Marabou is gregarious and a colonial breeder. In the African dry season (when food is more readily available as the pools shrink) it builds a tree nest in which two or three eggs are laid.

The Marabou Stork is a frequent scavenger, and the naked head and neck are adaptations to this, as it is with the vultures with which the stork often feeds. In both cases, a feathered head would become rapidly clotted with blood and other substances when the bird's head was inside a large corpse, and the bare head is easier to keep clean.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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HAIKU

Dandora garbage-
Marabou storks scavange
for food

Andrew Otinga



. Photo by Isabelle Sensei



Dandora Garbage Dumps
Dandora Municipal Garbage site
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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on a thorn tree
one marabou stork...
gazing

Isabelle Prondzynski


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a marabou stork
prepares to fly-
footsteps

Andrew Otinga


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The Coming of Marabou Storks

About 300m from Bahati School compound, a dump site was recently established. This dumpsite has turned out to be a habitat for a certain species of birds which only used to be found around Nyayo Stadium. They are called Marabou Stocks. These birds are helpful and destructive at the same time. For one, they engulf bones like nothing, thus getting rid of the bones along with other organic wastes from the environment. However, after engulfing the bones, they retreat to their newly found domicile, which is, unfortunately, the famous acacia tree outside Bahati School.

And my goodness, if you happen to look at their droppings, you will marvel at how many undiscovered wonders of nature there still are. These birds produce pure white chalk. The acacia tree and its entire cool base where we used to rest, is nowadays hardly recognizable. It is smeared in pure white chalk. Other vegetation around the acacia too, has not been spared. Even the morning glory and other creeping plants under and around the acacia are smeared white. If you happen to be new and mistakenly go to rest on the wooden benches under the acacia, be ready to go take a fresh bath.

stinky dumpsite —
Marabou Storks stooping
all day long

Patrick Wafula
February 2013

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MORE

. haiku with maribou from Kenya .


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Related words

***** Thorn tree, Naivasha Thorn, Fever Tree

***** . Migrating Birds (wataridori) and stork .


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Umbrella Tree

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Umbrella Tree

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Schefflera actinophylla
(syn. Brassaia actinophylla)

a tree in the Araliaceae family.
It is native to tropical rainforests and gallery forests in Australia (eastern Queensland and the Northern Territory), New Guinea and Java. Common names include
Umbrella Tree, Octopus Tree and Amate.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Schefflera actinophylla

MORE
. Photos by Caleb Mutua


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There is another tree by this name.


Umbrella tree (Acacia tortilis)



The tree that has come to represent Africa.
Acacia tortilis arches dramatically over the savanna throughout Serengeti. The seedlings of this tree are favored by elephants and cannot survive bush fires, so only twice in the past one hundred years have tortilis trees been able to grow. As such all of the tortilis trees in Serengeti are either 100 or 20 years old.
source : www.tanapa.com


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HAIKU

grey sky --
a stripped umbrella
tree

Patrick Wafula


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blowing wind -
a yellow umbrella leaf
floats in dusty air

Collins Ogutu



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Related words

***** WKD : Reference


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Brick making Tanzania

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Brick making in Arusha

***** Location: Tanzania
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Brick-making kilns in Arusha have the following seasonality:

March to August (autumn and winter)
are the seasons for brick-laying and kiln-construction,

October and November (spring)
are the months for brick-baking.



Once the bricks are baked and extracted for building houses by the middle-class people, the old kilns are destroyed. However, if the bricks are not needed immediately for construction, they are baked but left in the kiln.



Text and photos : Patrick Wafula


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HAIKU




spring rain--
in the place of old kilns
stand baked bricks

Patrick Wafula


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***** Arusha (Tanzania)

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Kisii in Nyanza

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Kisii in Nyanza

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation





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Report by Patrick Wafula
November 2010

It was a short but adventurous trip to this cool highland place in Kenya. I was able to take several photos of the the beautiful landscapes starting from the bottom of the Rift Valley, Narok, Bomet, Sotik, Kilgoris and finally Kisii town where I stayed for two days.

At this time of the year, Kisii is cool humid and breezy; it is green all over with plenty of crops ranging from maize, millet, coffee, sugarcane, and tea maturing. There are also plenty of trees such as eucalyptus, wattle, pine, and flame tree that keep the highlands green all year round.

Picking of tea is at its peak.

zebras and sheep
grazing side by side--
Narok plains

millet and pumpkins
for sale on the roadside--
Kisii highlands

sharing gooseberries
with kids on the matatu--
market day

Ogembo Street--
pumpkin varieties and
seeds on display

tea picking--
a small boy carrying a huge
reed basket

hill after hill--
flowering wattle and
blue gum

humid dawn--
the morning star shines
over the hill


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More Haiku from Patrick's trip, December 13


Kisumu and Lake Victoria



cool sunset breeze--
Lake Victoria wrinkles
and wrinkles again

cool humid breeze--
the reeds swing and swing
and swing again

Kisumu--
car and boat washing
on the lakeshore

sunset breeze--
fishing boats rowing
into reed parking

the sun a red ball
among grey clouds--
sunset rain

vehicle tyres wheeze
on the watery tarmac road--
sudden rain



Kakamega:




forested hillside--
the weeping stone weeps
in the sunset





a lone monkey drinks
from a puddle on the roadside--
Kakamega forest





Bungoma: Nzoia Sugar

traffic jam--
tractor trailers carrying
harvested sugarcane

smoking factory--
stretching plantations
of green sugarcane

grey spirals

in the blue sky--
Nzoia Sugar Co.



Bungoma: Webuye Papermill:

panpaper mill--
spiraling grey smoke
in a blue sky

the obnoxious air
hits our nose trills--
the paper mill

long trailers
queuing with logs of pine--
panpaper mill

paper mill--
the aromatic scent
of pulverized pine



Trans-Nzoia: Kitale

slow traffic jam--
lorries carrying maize
to cereal board

lorry shop--
spilled maize grains
on the roadside

after harvest--
cattle grazing on maize
stalks

empty farms--
a whirl wind full of maize
litter across the sky






. More Photos from Patrick Wafula



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*****

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Poetic Haibun

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Poetic Haibun

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Explanation

At the Ninth Kukai of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi, on 30 October 2010 at the Children’s Traffic Park, two members of the “Bamboochas”, the Bahati Haiku Poetry Club, gave a presentation which tried out something new. This presentation consisted of free verse by Beryl Achieng’ lamenting the current building spree and the disregard for nature being subjugated for the sake of new housing, contrasted with haiku observations by James Bundi.


Kukai at the Children’s Traffic Park
Photo © David Kimani Mwangi


We wondered what to call this new form of poetry, and decided on the name “poetic haibun”.

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Construction and Development

In the developing times,
trees and natural resources at stake!
Caterpillars and bulldozers at work,
motion day and night to construct
new apartments on the virgin land.
Where is our nature?

cracked tarmac --
the weight of the old
excavator

The dust and ash inhaled
all in the name of money making!
What is the cost of nature
compared to rental expenditure?
We need a change for a living!

yawning --
the dusty air enters
my throat

Dumping sites full of withered flowers,
roots and logs of the uprooted trees.
No beauty, no fresh air,
no shade from trees,
our natural resources at stake!

bare roots --
the withered flower
falls off

We are sorry Mother Nature,
we promise to maintain you
in the best way we can -- even
if it is by writing haiku
to register our complaints.



free verse : Beryl Achieng
haiku : James Bundi


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We should like to hear your views on this. To me, the free verse reads very Kenyan, very passionate, very committed. The haiku, on the other hand, read like haiku, calm and observant without being judgmental. We may have discovered a very Kenyan form of presenting haiku to an audience!

This is something we shall need to work on, as Kenya Saijiki progresses. Culture, in Kenya, is now written and studied -- but in public fora, it is oral and very popular indeed. If haiku is to win its place in mainstream cultural events in Kenya, it will have to gain an oral form in which it can be presented to a large public audience, where it might be in competition with other performances such as dance, song, drama and long poems. Some form of haibun is most likely to provide the answer.

We shall be interested to read your views.
Congratulations, Beryl and James, for having taken us to new ground in haiku presentation!

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Short biographies


Beryl Achieng’

My name is Beryl Achieng', aged 18 years, born on 29 May 1992. I am the chairperson of the Bamboochas Haiku Club from Bahati Secondary School in Kayole, Nairobi (Kenya). I joined the haiku club in the year 2007, after which our Sensei Mr. Patrick Wafula introduced us to haiku, and he has ever since been guiding us in our writing.

My inspiration for writing haiku comes from nature.

The poem "Construction and Development" was about the current situation in Kenya. It was the result of the current developments that have led to construction of many roads and apartment blocks in our area.


Beryl Achieng’
Photo © Caleb Mutua


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James Bundi

My name is James Bundi, the co-ordinator of the Bamboochas Haiku Club of Bahati Secondary School in Kayole. I joined the haiku club in the year 2008. This is due to the fact that it opened a vast field to expose what I think I have in me; being creative and observant.

The latest issue was about Construction and Development. I got a push to write about this issue due to the harm made to flowers and trees in our neighbourhood to pave way for construction of apartments. I shared the idea with Beryl Achieng' who took the task of creating a poem while I wrote the haiku that appeared in between the poem's stanzas.

We did the editing together and this gave rise to the presentation, which became a haibun.


James Bundi
Photo © Caleb Mutua


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Reactions

May I join Isabelle in her praise of this work of art !
And haiku in combination with other art forms is indeed a great way to voice our complaints!
More of it please !!
Gabi

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That is a very beautiful and poetic indeed, and what a powerful writing! Poignant and passionate, and simply stunning peace of haikai. Bravo!
Thank you, Gabi san, for sharing this haibun with us.
Origa
http://origa.livejournal.com

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Indeed, Origa.
And I have to say, that I like the Kenyan way very much. In a similar way Arab do so too, which I like. It is working with striking colours. As a story writer I see a line floating up and down - tension and relaxation.
After passionate text or tension follow haiku helping to unwind and to deepen the prose.
Congratulations!
--Heike

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Great. Haibun that goes with commitment to a noble cause. good idea.
kenneth daniels (Guyana)


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. Traffic Park Kukai
October 30, 2010 　


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SOWETO VILLAGE

From the tiny pieces of paper,
to the vegetable peelings
and now a heap of dirt,
filthy and with unpleasant smell.
We need to breathe again!

filthy smell--
the increasing heap of
kitchen dumps

Everywhere we go it's dirt!
Bad smell from burst sewers
is not an exception;
each day a sewer flows
through paths and pavements.
We need to breathe again!

burst sewerage--
stepping on stones to
cross the road

Our environs are insured,
but how is it our health
disintegrates and dissociates?
Mend drainage systems, recycle
and reuse for a healthy life.
We need to breathe again!

whirling wind--
the tree seedlings are covered
by dirty papers
Januaray 2011





Kenya plastic bags on a tree : Environmental awareness at the 2010 Orchid Show, Sarit Centre Nairobi
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

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. Soweto Stage Market, Nairobi 　


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More Poetic Haibun

. DUST! MY NAME. by James Bundi 　


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Traffic park Kukai

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Traffic park Kukai
October 30, 2010

The Children's Traffic Park is a park within Central Park, next to Uhuru Park in the centre of the city. The ginkoo took place both within the Children's Traffic Park and Central Park itself.


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. PHOTO ALBUM 　



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HAIKU


1.
---
Central Park --
a boy swings and
swings

~ Abednego Mwanzis (Peacock, F1)

2.
---
running water --
a jacaranda flower
floats by

~ Rhoda Mutheu (Peacock, F4)

3.
---
cool breeze --
he lies with a hat
on his face

~ Monica Ndunge (Peacock, F2)

4.
---
traffic jam --
a hawker sells handkerchiefs
to passengers

~ Kelvin Wanjala (Bamboocha, F2)

5.
---
green grass --
a lady flicks a termite with
her finger

~ Dominic Kuvonga (Peacock, F2)

6.
---
Central Park --
a lady laying her head on
a man's shoulder

~ Sylvia Kalekyo (Peacock, F3)

7.
---
slashed grass --
a termite disappears
in the hole

~ Jecinta Mueni (Peacock, F2)

8.
---
flowing water --
the blown grass blade
flows away

~ Stephen Macharia (Bamboocha, F2)

9.
---
jacaranda trees --
scattered flowers
on the ground

~ Fanuel Alala (Peacock, F3)

10.
----
glowing cloud --
water droplets from tipu tree
wet the ground

~ Eric Mwange (Bamboocha, F3)

11.
----
cloudy sky --
the ice cream vendor
leans on a cart

~ Titus Mutungi (Peacock, F1)

12.
----
high tower --
the lift moves to and fro
continuously

~ Wayua Pauline (Peacock, F2)

13.
----
clean pavement --
a leaf falls off from
the jacaranda tree

~ Peter Nguribu (Bamboocha, F3)

14.
----
Central Park --
a bee sucking from
a day lily flower

~ Samuel Pirias (Bamboocha, F2)

15.
----
calm evening --
a couple lying on the
green grass

~ Scholarstica Mumbe (Peacock, F3)

16.
----
star grass --
a grasshopper flaps
its wings

~ Elijah Juma (Peacock, F1)

17.
----
shedding flowers --
a bee buzzing around a
guava tree

~ Isaac Ndirangu (Bamboocha, F2)

18.
----
cool breeze --
white high raised flag
waves

~ Stanley Mutinda (Peacock, F3)


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Related words

. The Haiku Clubs of Nairobi 　


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Cabbage

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Cabbage

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Short rains
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Even though heads of green cabbages are available throughout the year, it is noticeable that they are in plenty at the start of the short rains. Those who walk around will notice that heaps of cabbages can be seen in market places and on roadsides at this time. Although they are of different sizes, one will observe that they are relatively cheap and they are the preferred vegetables in most homes during this season.

Some grocers, to avoid the flooded markets, slice them and pack them into thin plastic bags and then hawk them around to those who cannot have access to the busy markets. This may be a problem for the village “mama mboga” (vegetable stall) who could suffer from this competition.

Text by Andrew Otinga

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Cabbage vendor on the way to the market


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MORE PHOTOS
by Caleb David Mutua






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Worldwide use

Japan

kigo for early summer

kyabetsu キャベツ cabbage
... kanran 甘藍 (かんらん) , tamana 玉菜（たまな）"leaves ball"

SAIJIKI
Summer Vegetables


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


cabbage heap-
a grocer winking
at me


Soweto slum-
a cabbage vendor calls
at the gate


muddy puddle-
the stench of a
rotten cabbage

Andrew Otinga


***** More Cabbage Haiku from Kenya


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Related words

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Flame tree Erythrina

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Flame tree

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Erythrina is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, growing up to 30 m (98 ft) in height. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ερυθρóς (erythros), meaning "red," referring to the flower color of certain species.

Particularly in horticulture, the name coral tree is used as a collective term for these plants. "Flame trees" is another vernacular name, but may refer to a number of unrelated plants as well. Many species of Erythrina have bright red flowers, and this may be the origin of the common name. However, the growth of the branches can resemble the shape of sea coral rather than the color of Corallium rubrum specifically, and this is an alternative source for the name.

Other popular names, usually local and particular to distinct species, liken the flowers' red hues to those of a male chicken's wattles, and/or the flower shape to its leg spurs. Commonly seen Spanish names for any local species are bucaré, frejolillo or porotillo, and in Afrikaans some are called kaffirboom. Mullumurikku is a widespread.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Its botanical name is Erythrina abyssinica:
the common name is flame tree or Red Hot Poker Tree.
It is also called Luck Bean Tree.

The Kikuyu name is Muhuti.
The Luhya name is Kumurembe.

It has some traditional values such as the superstitious curing of mumps in Luhya whereby anyone suffering from this disease has to collect a bundle of fagots, run to the tree, throw the fagots at the tree, making sure they hit the trunk. And then say, "There goes my mumps with you to the tree!" and then turn around and run without looking back.

Photo and text by Patrick Wafula



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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


red blossoms on
bare branches of the flame tree--
crunch of dry leaves


Partrick Wafula, Nairobi

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Related words

***** Bombax blossom

***** Flamboyant Tree (Swahili : Mjohoro)


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