There Was Once Something Special Here

By Tom Jalio                                                                                   Download pdf epub html
You can tell by the shape of the pieces
The trailing blood and the aura of warmth
That there was once a heart here
And the winds of memory floating by
Still fan the flame that raged in it

You can gauge from the markings on the walls
The piercing font and the scrambled letters
That a name was etched by cupid’s arrow
And the sunset glow of the text
Still hints of a golden history

You can sense from the tremble of the chambers
The undying pulse and the scent of a beloved
That the heart once danced to a dreamer's beat
And the hollow ring of wedding bells
Still haunts what could have been

You can taste in the beads of water
The pouring rain and the salty puddles
That tears are words the heart can’t express
And the cloud that sheds them
Still leaves “goodbye” behind

You can see in the drag of finger prints
The gathering mass and the mist of sweat
That someone is slowly collecting the pieces
 But the feeling that used to live here
Still hides in the shadows of the heart
≈≈

You can watch Tom Jalio read his winning poem, There Was Once Something Special Here, on YouTube.
≈≈
Download to read on mobile devices pdf epub html
≈≈       

Tom Jalio was born and bred in Kenya. His poem, There Was Once Something Special Here, won the BN Poetry Awards for 2014, earning him a cash prize of 1,000 US Dollars and an autographed copy of Wheels by Kwame Dawes. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nairobi. As an editor for Master Publishing, he has helped produce nearly twenty fiction and non-fiction titles. He attended the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair under the auspices of the Kenya ICT Board’s Tandaa Digital Content grant. Tom is a soft-spoken introvert who finds his voice in the written word. He sees humour in the mundane and poetry in the tragic, and expresses that in his writings. He’s mostly done creative nonfiction but is now venturing to literary fiction. His features, short stories, and poems have been published in over ten magazines, newspapers, and anthologies.

≈≈