Arrested Tongues
A poem by Njeri Wangari

Arrested Tongues

 A year ago
my tongue got arrested
roaming the streets at night on Silent Avenue
       Her charge,
possession with intent to distribute
       On her
was an ounce of words
which when inhaled
causes loss of all inhibitions
hallucinations of half-naked rhymes
and delusions of potent imagination
spoken into being

        my tongue
         pled guilty

She is still sitting
languishing behind bars
doing her time
initiating rhyme poets
into lines with no rhythm

About the Author:

Njeri Wangari is an acclaimed Kenyan poet and writer with a multi-faceted career
spanning over 15 years as a spoken word artist, journalist and communications
specialist.

Njeri’s first poetry collection- Mine and Mind Fields; My Spoken Words published in 2010 is a 114 paged collection which contains over 40 poems that explore themes on; Urban Blues, Love, Identity, Traditions, Cultural changes, Exploitation and Politics written in English, Kiswahili and her native language Gĩkũyũ.

In 2022, her poetry was published in the Across Borders – An anthology of new poems from the commonwealth.

Njeri’s poems have been published in Badilisha Poetry, The East African, Kwani!,
Msafiri & Down River Road magazines. She has performed at various regional and
international events including the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival, Kwani & Story Moja Festivals, Global Voices Summit, Tedx Nairobi & at the Still Water middle school in Minnesota.

Njeri’s 2nd poetry collection, Arrested Tongues is due in 2023.

For more info visit www.kenyanpoet.com

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