The Moon Is Made Of Green Cheese
  
 The moon is made of green cheese, 
 The star of 'Titanic' was John Cleese, 
 Canada is slightly smaller than Greece, 
 Corn is closely related to black-eyed peas, 
 Honey comes from birds, not bees, 
 Elephants sometimes climb trees, 
 Prophet Muhammed roamed the high seas, 
 Top lawyers don't charge high fees, 
 World War Two didn't disturb the peace -
 And Susan loves me.



 
  
 The Clouds
  
 Bengal tiger, Chinese dragon,
 Asian elephant, African lion,
 Sea of fire, lake of salt –
 The clouds can take on any form!
 Now white pillows on a blue sheet,
 Now speeding space ships, wherever from,
 And now a grey ceiling blocking the sun’s heat –
 I love to watch the clouds transform!
 Back when I was a young lad,
 Rather than play football or skip ropes,
 I used to lie on the grass, facing skywards,
 Just to see the clouds perform!
 I’ve seen Washington crossing the Delaware
 And Jesus Christ giving a sermon.
 ’Saw Napoleon at Waterloo but before I could yell, “Beware!”
 The clouds changed again, as is their norm!



 

  Bernays' Propaganda 
  
 She’ll never leave me, she’s mine forever
 So you better quit while you’re behind, hater.
 Nothing you say or do will move her – 
 Not even Bernays’ propaganda.
  
 She wouldn’t trade me for a Hong Kong millionaire
 Or all the tea in China;
 For a prince from Saudi Arabia
 Or the Taj Mahal in India.
 Want more examples with which to compare?
 Here come several more, so stand clear:
 Michael Jackson’s moves, the music of Stevie Wonder,
 Dorothy Dandridge’s eyes, the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  
 You’re probably wondering, ‘What the hell does he give her?’
 It was love at first sight, two hearts found each other.
 We constantly exchange love, happiness and laughter
 And what is written in the stars, no man can put asunder.
 So go ahead, compadré, if you dare.
 Flash your cash, hire Madison Avenue image-makers,
 Burst your best moves, use the best pick-up lines ever
 But you couldn’t win if Edward Bernays’ himself was your advisor.

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Alexander Nderitu is a Kenyan poet, novelist, and playwright and critic. Nderitu’s short stories, articles and poems have been published in The East African Standard, Publishing Perspectives, Hjänstorm, Ars Artium, IFLAC Peace and Anti-Terror Anthology, Commonwealth Poetry Postcards, My Africa, My City: An Afridiaspora Anthology, AwaaZ, World Poetry Almanac, One Million Project: Thriller Anthology, AfricanWriter.com, Agbowó, SETU and IHRAF Publishes, among other journals and publications. Some of the works have been translated into Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Swedish, French, Dholuo, and Kiswahili. In 2014, his narrative poem ‘Someone in Africa Loves You’ represented Kenyan literature on Commonwealth Poetry Postcards. In 2017, Business Daily newspaper listed him amongst Kenya’s ‘Top 40 Under 40 Men’. Nderitu is the Deputy Secretary-General of Kenyan PEN and the Kenyan Editor of the US-based theatre news portal, TheTheatreTimes.com