the meetings were held in a cooking hut
mud with grass-thatched roof the floor smeared
with dried clay and cow manure

three large stones inside to hold the pot
on the indoor fire called in Swahili
jikoni - a kitchen hut

daily at three Kenyan people of the baLuyia tribe

would come into the kitchen hut for prayers
harmonious percussive singing and clapping

the building was meant to accommodate four or five
but the meetings often stuffed in close to twenty

the meetings were aimed at spiritual encouragement
intercessory prayer & testimonies

usually the old ones came first

there was the albino named Elfis
with his albino son Omoko

then there was Bartlomeo whose eyes were
open without having eyeballs

both Elfis and Bart
were blind but would be the first into the mud prayer room
after walking five miles to get there

they always thought others were already there
so they would stand up and ask if they could sing
a song or testify though it was only them and the walls

Elfis's favorite Luyia song was nyanzinyepo yesu wenyanza
omwami yesu yakhuyanza -- I am so glad that Jesus
loves me, Jesus loves even me

With his pink lizard-like crusty skin and lamb-white hair
he resembled an angel






3.5 10/10