Cockroaches By Mauri Yambo Turn on the light and helter-skelter they scuttle to their dark shelters. Cut them off from their hideouts block their many approaches and see cockroaches in hopeless flurry and helpless worry. But who ordained the crash-fall of sandals on these shy creatures? Or is it their love of darkness holds them suspect? MAURI YAMBO (1947 - ) • Prof. Mauri Yambo is a Kenyan, by birth. He is married to Joan, with children and a granddaughter. He was born in Nairobi in AD 1947, in the last millennium. He obtained his first degree (BA Hons in Sociology and Political Science) in 1972, from the University of Dar Es Salaam, in neighboring Tanzania. He obtained an MA degree in Sociology from the University of Nairobi (UoN) in 1974 and graduated in 1980 with a PhD degree in Industrial Sociology from the University of Illinois (at Urbana-Champaign), USA. • He joined the Department of Sociology, University of Nairobi, as a lecturer in May 1980. He lectured there (at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels), did research, supervised, and published until 2017 – in-between serving as Departmental Chair, as an appointee of the University’s Vice-Chancellor. He was also elected by his 170+ academic peers as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and served for two terms. • It was the largest Faculty at the UoN by student numbers. Among the high points of his tenure as Dean was the successful launch of the Module II certificate, diploma and degree programs across the Faculty’s eleven Departments and sub-Departments. He also saw to the procurement, for the first time, of a desktop computer for each Departmental Office in the Faculty; and established the Faculty’s first computer lab for students. • Prof. Yambo continues to write and is a regular blogger at mauriyambo.blogspot.com. His creative writing-and-publishing endeavors have now resumed. Title Cockroaches Definition: scavenging insects that resembles a beetle, having long antennae and legs and typically a broad, flattened body. Purpose: Prompts us to reconsider our relationship with cockroaches, as well as our behaviour and attitudes toward them. An abrupt opening that creates tension because something is about to be revealed. This can be interpreted as either an instruction or a description of events. This implies that the speaker is decisive and certain of what will be discovered. Turn on the light and helter-skelter In disorderly haste or confusion Exact rhyme Skelter and shelter Purpose – emphasis the pace of the verse and evoke the frantic, hurried scurrying of the insects as they try to find shelter. they scuttle The cockroaches Alliteration of ‘s’= Sibilance - creates the sound effect of the insects scattering and scurrying across the floor. Scurry, scramble/ flee, to move quickly, with small, short steps, especially in order to escape to their dark shelters. Most cockroach species prefer to hide and breed in dark, moist areas. Cockroaches are nocturnal because they provide food for many predators. They prefer to spend the day hiding in dark, hidden places and then foraging for food at night. Dark shelters are associated with safety for them. Another abrupt command. Whether it be a command or a description of events is unclear, this echoes the opening line of the first stanza. Choice of diction: these actions show the speaker is the aggressor and that the cockroaches are the victims of these harsh actions as they will be hopeless and helpless. Rhyme - Approaches and cockroaches emphasise the pace of the verse and the frantic hurried scurrying as the flee/scramble. Rhyme - Flurry and worry heighten the cockroaches' vulnerability and powerlessness when they are unable to escape. Cut them off Cut them off means to interrupt someone or something; to prevent someone from continuing. Prevent them from reaching ‘their hideouts’ by cutting them off and their approaches (a way of dealing with a situation or problem) to flee to safety. cockroaches from their hideouts block their many approaches and see cockroaches in hopeless flurry and helpless worry. The speaker notes that if the preventative measures are successful (‘cut’ and ‘block’) the cockroaches will be stranded as a ‘flurry’ (swirling mass) of hopeless and ‘helpless’ ‘worry’. Stanza ends with a full stop which creates a pause allowing the imagery and meaning of the stanza to be processed. Conjunction – creates tension as it indicates a change of topic and tone. But who ordained order (something) officially, who gave the consent or has the authority the crash-fall To suddenly fall, land, or hit with destructive force The cause of the ‘crash-fall’, a method of of sandals on these nervous or timid in the company of other people, provides a reason for them scurrying and fleeing. which many people make use of in order to stomp on cockroaches. shy creatures? Question mark creates longer pauses insisting that the reader consider the question asked. The word ‘or’ indicates a shift in reasoning as the speaker contemplates why cockroaches are killed in such harsh manners. Ambiguous reference to ‘darkness holds them suspect’ : Or is it their love Is it their fondness for the dark that makes them suspicious? of darkness holds them suspect? Perhaps it is a literal reference to humans' instinctual primal fear of the dark - the inability to see making them feel vulnerable - and, by extension, the fear of other nocturnal insects and creatures. Perhaps a metaphor for darkness, which is associated with the unknown, death, evil, and distrust. Structure • Free verse – no formal rhyme scheme or meter. • Four stanzas, varying in length • The minimal use of punctuation supports the fast urgent pace of the poem in significant stanzas. • Can be interpreted literally or figuratively. Title Cockroaches Figurative interpretation Figurative interpretation • Cockroaches are a powerful metaphor for the oppressed, marginalized, or downtrodden in society. They are reviled and rejected, and they are difficult to kill. Some commentators have suggested that the cockroaches in the poem are 'shy,' 'worried,' 'hopeless,' and 'helpless,' implying that they represent Kenya's indigenous tribes and people during colonisation. • From this vantage point, the poem becomes a moving and compelling examination of imperialism. Stanza 1 Turn on the light and helter-skelter they scuttle to their dark shelters. • Displays the disruptive and disorientating effect on the arrival of the British colonists. Stanza 2 Stanza 3 But who ordained the crash-fall of sandals on these shy creatures? • It not only evokes the colonists' thoughtless violent brutality, but it also poignantly queries who or what gave these intruders the authority to torment and murder the indigenous people in this inhumane manner. Stanza 4 Or is it their love of darkness holds them suspect? • This stanza is a chilling reference to European racial chauvinism and their perceptions of Africans as inferior and subhuman.
