Cockroaches

• MAURI YAMBO (1947 - )
• Turn on the light

  1. and helter-skelter

  2. they scuttle

  3. to their dark shelters
• Who ordained


  the crash-fall of sandals on these shy creatures?
• Is it their love of darkness


  holds them suspect?
• Structure


  • The poem is written in free verse
  • There is no formal rhyme scheme or meter, however, there is a sense of rhyme that supports the pace and rhythm at impactful places in the poem
  • The poem has four short stanzas of varying lengths
  • The lines are short and riddled with monosyllabic words
  • The limited use of punctuation emphasises the urgent, hurried pace as the enjambment increases the pace of the poem
  • The full stops at the end of stanzas 1 and 2 allows the reader to pause and process what they have read
  • The rhetorical questions in stanzas 3 and 4 also allows for a pause and engage the reader
• Helter-skelter


  To move in a disorderly manner/ in a state of confusion/ hastily
• Scuttle


  Run hurriedly or furtively with short quick steps
• Alliteration: The repetitive "sk" sound mimics the sound the cockroaches make as they hurry to safety
• Flurry


  A small swirling mass of something, especially snow or leaves, moved by sudden gusts of wind
• The tone seems arrogant and domineering, as well as violent and aggressive. The short, monosyllabic words like "[c]ut" and "block" emphasise the threatening and combative tone. Additionally, the diction implies that the cockroaches are the victims as they feel scared, "hopeless" and "helpless" in this instance, and the speaker is the implied aggressor.
• Contrast is created by juxtaposing "light" (line 1) and "dark" (line 4). Cockroaches find "shelter" and safety in dark places.
• The similar sounds (along with the rhyme of the words "flurry" and "worry") enhance how defenseless the cockroaches feel when they cannot escape to their "shelters" and "hideouts".
• Ordained


  To order something in an official manner. The word has religious connotations.
• Suspect


  A person thought to be guilty of a crime or offence/ considered guilty/ under suspicion/accused
• The cockroaches in the poem are metaphors for the social pariahs/ those cast aside in society. The symbolism and diction work together to imply that the cockroaches refer to Kenyans during colonisation.