Messages from Mrs Miriam

Fringe ArtsPoemVallerey Akinyi Ogweno — Published November 4, 2025 11 minutes

I would consider myself happy if, 

I could only get that sliver of hope, 

if I could ride that wave crusading on to                                                                        a better life,

a better mind,                                                      a newer way of thinking, 

of being,                               of desire, 

                                                                    communicating, 

                                                  leave alone loving, rather cohabitating. 

I would reckon myself satisfied if my mind 

could be                       *sparked*                               in likeness with my    *heart*    and my body, if 

the                      liminal space                  around me could be filled slowly but rapidly 

with hearts and spirits surviving off of sheer will and 

                                                                                    desperation. 

                                              hawk 

                                                       r

 Should love watch me like a          e

                                                          e                         

I will                                                    p             right back daring it to try me once more. 

If love sees it fit to knock me down a            

                                                           F

                                                               E 

                                                                   w, 

I shall use what I've got to build myself up            and stand side by side with it. 

I say truly that love has wounded me once more

and in that wounding my flesh        

                                                burns        with       

                                                                         heat       and  passion. 

My heart is filled with colour and light. 

My immediate senses have taken a back seat and given up on struggling to perceive. 

Rather the tingling that overtakes my body, 

and the         

                                                                                                                      fire           

that shakes me out of my stupor, takes command from the p  u  l   l in my gut that cries knowing there is no happiness without           and there is no joy without                          . 

                                    Pain                                              b       l       n     e

                                                                                               a       a      c

These are the things  that now direct me when my ears shut themselves in disbelief, 

my eyes beg not to see, and my hands ball up until they bleed. 

This is what gives me new hope; this is where understanding is derived. 

As I write these messages in the back of the classroom, trying so very hard to hold on, 

know that as soon as I stand, I'll start running and I'll never stop,  

                                                                                                      not away but towards 

as my mind races,

                             I’ll run on, 

as my black skin turns red,

                                              I’ll run on, 

as my pockets dry, 

                                                                I’ll run on, 

as those who love me leave me 

                                                                                        I'll run on. 

And as the only person who’ll ever know me sits beside me, 

unable to see me 

turns their head in rebellion and shame 

as I look back and see the young child who speaks to the child within

unable to recognize the love that races and b          c  between 

                                                                      o          e

                                                                       u    n     s   

My God,                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                          I'll run on for the knowledge that it exists. 

That love chose me today, convicted my feet and my heart, told me to run for miles just so I could come back and sit in the back of the classroom and tell you to hold on to your desks, cover your ears, close your eyes, and find it within yourself to survive. 

For where we are headed, all you’ll need is the drum buried               inside your chest.    

                                                                                          deep

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 5, published November 4, 2025.