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Articles by Mwihaki Maina
The sustainability of social enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya: A micro-level agency focus on metacognitive awareness
español Investigaciones recientes sugieren que la sostenibilidad está estrechamente vinculada a las empresas de economía social, las cuales, al ser iniciativas impulsadas por una misión, generan un cambio sistémico y ofrecen soluciones sostenibles a las comunidades locales. Si bien la literatura sobre sostenibilidad se centra principalmente en el cambio a gran escala, a menudo se pasa por alto la capacidad de acción a nivel micro.
Eyes bloodshot not from sleeplessness, but from obvious weeping I sit, trembling, curled at the corner of my bed like it’s a cliff edge, wondering how do I survive *this*? It feels like I’ve… - Mwihaki Maina - Medium
Eyes bloodshot not from sleeplessness, but from obvious weeping I sit, trembling, curled at the corner of my bed like it’s a cliff edge, wondering how do I survive *this*? It feels like I’ve been dumped in the middle of the woods at midnight something staring at me, haunting me with painted smiles and fake laughs. Every moment feels like a gear erupting in my chest, my heart skipping beats like it's in a race I never signed up for. I can’t run. I can’t scream.
WHERE GUILT WEARS A CROWN
Press enter or click to view image in full size Trembling not from cold, but from regret for a mistake that came dressed in silence. I want to apologize God knows I do but the voice inside whispers, "Don't." I was wrong. I admit it. But I built a fortress out of pride, out of fear, out of quotes that justified my stupidity. Now, I can't catch my breath. My chest is caving in under the weight of the damage I've caused. I'm not the same. Not human anymore. Not whole.
PAUSED I was a dreamer with beautiful dreams, beautiful visions, beautiful plans, and goals.
PAUSED I was a dreamer with beautiful dreams, beautiful visions, beautiful plans, and goals. I took a step… an attempt to make it all real, like I saw it in my vision. But now I'm just numb. Can't feel anything. Stuck with the weight of becoming forced to be eye-sharp without blinking, watching others progress. I'm on pause. And it hurts. The silence resting under my scalp it’s beginning to scream now. The echoes… loud enough to make me bleed. And it ain’t stopping anytime soon.
PAINTED SKIES
Holding back tears, Strengthening myself with illusions I painted Hope dressed in disguise, Smiles stitched over scars, Laughter echoing through hollow rooms where my soul whispers, Just one break, please. Down on my knees, I beg life to show up. To just be there. But it watches. Laughs. Sits comfortably while pain wraps its claws around my scalp, Tighter… and tighter… And still, no sign. No mercy. Just stillness and suffering. Then when peace finally peeks in… Here comes the storm again.
WARMTH FROM RUINS Do not apologize.
WARMTH FROM RUINS Do not apologize. The silence has already spoken Louder than your guilt ever could. The bridge is ablaze, And I am the architect of its ruin. I do not forget. I do not falter. I do not reconstruct What once betrayed me. You bring chaos I respond by forging A superior reflection of you. Sharper. Quieter. Unreachable. You drive the knife deep I unsheath my blades, And I do not miss. I do not select people. I replicate their rhythm. You offer distance , I vanish. You deliver fire , I erupt.
SUSPENDED There are alarms… Not sirens in the street, But quiet explosions beneath my ribs.
SUSPENDED There are alarms… Not sirens in the street, But quiet explosions beneath my ribs. Random, Uninvited, Like my heart remembers something my mind forgot. Or maybe it knows something my soul won’t say out loud. I feel it. Like footsteps behind me that never catch up Like eyes on my back when I’m alone in a locked room. It’s there. Laughing. Not with joy, but in disguise. Like a friend in a mask, or a dream that keeps showing up uninvited. Something is almost happening. Or maybe it already did.
In Debt to the Ink I used to bleed on pages like my life depended on it.
In Debt to the Ink I used to bleed on pages like my life depended on it. Not for fame, not for claps, not even for healing but because pain had nowhere else to go. So I turned it into art, wrapping heartache in rhythm, dressing betrayal in metaphors, and stitching brokenness between bars of breath. I told myself I had a passion, but maybe I had a need. A need to scream without sound. To cry in rhyme. To whisper to no one and be heard by everyone. Now the pen waits. So does the page. Still. Patient.
GHOST WALKING WITH A HEART
GHOST WALKING WITH A HEART Mentally checked out like I’m ghost walking through my own life, heart still tethered tight, bleeding in silence. I swallow every jagged word, bite back the rage, bury the tears deep where no one sees. They’re wrapped in pride, manipulation slick as oil, using silence like a weapon, expecting me to fold, to shatter, to beg. But I’m sick so damn sick of holding it all in, this war inside me bleeding out slow, poisoned by their lies, choking on my own loyalty. Peace?
HALFWAY TO NOWHERE I feel empty Like a desert praying for rain, but the clouds?
HALFWAY TO NOWHERE I feel empty Like a desert praying for rain, but the clouds? They just hover. Mocking. Drifting. I’m waiting… For something. Anything. To quench this thirst that’s eating me from the inside, but it’s taking forever longer than promises ever kept. Inside me, silence isn’t quiet. It screams. It begs. It claws. It shakes the walls of my chest like it’s building a riot inside my ribs. It’s not fear. No… It’s weight.
WHEN APPLAUSE HURT Nobody talks about this pain… The kind that doesn’t scream It whispers.
WHEN APPLAUSE HURT Nobody talks about this pain… The kind that doesn’t scream It whispers. It lingers. It wraps around your ribs like invisible wire, tightening every time someone close to you wins. See, I’m not mad at them. I’m mad at the stillness. The waiting. The watching. The way my own dreams sit like broken shoes at the doorstep while theirs take off, running marathons across timelines and captions, "Just signed the deal!" "Got the keys!" "Dream came true!" And me?
EVENTUALLY, I SHINE
EVENTUALLY, I SHINE You held power like a sword Sharp with silence, Piercing with presence, But never to protect, Only to rule. You wore titles that sparkled in public light, But at home, you stripped me down To dust, To doubt, To almost disappearing. The roof above me leaked rage, Bitterness dripped from every word you preached. You sang salvation for strangers, But offered none to your own blood. I cried in languages you refused to learn My pain was too loud, So you called it disrespect.
GENUINE IN THE SHADOWS You won when I celebrated you from a place so real.
You claimed I stole your spotlight, didn’t even try to receive my joy the right way. The world is watching, you’re glowing, and somehow, I became invisible. I stood beside you, but that stopped mattering. Now, I’m glad we don’t share fates. Not saying mine will be brighter, but I’ll fold my love, wrap it in silence, and keep it for me. You try to dim me, make me feel guilty for reasons I can’t grasp. The hate? So forced. You justify your chaos with shattered mirrors, projecting your flaws onto me.
AND ALL WE HAD WAS LEFT BEHIND 💔 I gave my heart, I gave my soul, Put every piece of me in a role.
AND ALL WE HAD WAS LEFT BEHIND 💔 I gave my heart, I gave my soul, Put every piece of me in a role. I trusted you with all my might, Hoping you’d see the love in sight. But every time I reached for you, You pulled away, as if I grew Too much to handle, too much to bear, And left me questioning, wondering, and scared. You told me lies and called them truth, You showed me nothing, yet claimed my youth. I gave you everything my love, my care, But in return, all I got was air.
CALM WHILE YOU RAGED You use your tongue like a weapon, Each word laced in venom, precise.
CALM WHILE YOU RAGED You use your tongue like a weapon, Each word laced in venom, precise. A storm in your chest erupts often, Yet I sit still not cold, just wise. You choose chaos like it's comfort, Drama like it’s peace, Breaking me with bitter names, While I choose quiet release. You hurl your past like a medal, Waving friendships in my face, Trusting them, not because they’re right, But because they came first in the race.
Clear conscience, closed door And when you start missing me, Remember You had me, But you didn’t…
You threw shades like confetti, Loud with ego, But quiet when it came to matching energy. You watch, You lurk, You try to shake me with your silence, But it echoes nothing now. 🤧 Why am I still thinking about you? Why do I even wonder what’s next? It’s not love. It’s me, Closing every open door 😌 You used to walk through To disrespect, To confuse, To ruin my peace. I'm not your mess to revisit. I'm not your guilt to carry. I'm your lesson you refused to learn.🙌 You don’t apologize. You don’t admit.
Entitled to nothing You thought you could own it all Boss me around, Monitor me like I’m your…
Entitled to nothing You thought you could own it all Boss me around, Monitor me like I’m your prisoner, Stare at me like I’m guilty While all I did was try. I offended no one Not even you. But you were heavy, Heavy with demands, Apologies for wounds you gave me, Calling it love. So toxic, But I stayed Not because I was weak, But because I was hopeful. Still, I left. And that’s my greatest win. It’s peace To breathe without chains, To not be judged through Your twisted insecurities.
MANIPULATED SILENCE I was living quietly, Minding my own, Then you came uninvited.
MANIPULATED SILENCE I was living quietly, Minding my own, Then you came uninvited. Begged for attention, Tapped on the soft parts of my heart, And I, I gave it a chance. At first It felt like magic. Promises I never asked for Suddenly felt like dreams I forgot I had. You painted love with words so vivid I mistook manipulation for affection. Then, The colors started fading. You acted like I was a burden A virus you needed to cure To save your own peace.
INK OF MY SILENCE We walk through pain, Dragged by hands that once felt warm.
INK OF MY SILENCE We walk through pain, Dragged by hands that once felt warm. They twist our lives into storms Not accepting, not rejecting, Just playing. They toy with hearts, Rejoicing in the chaos they create, Until we’re left questioning our worth, Drowning in silence, Craving escape. So we end it. We walk away Only to be found again By lips whispering “sorry,” Painting lies with sweet smiles. They fix what they broke, Only to break it worse, Returning not as better, But as ghosts of worse days.
WHEN PAIN ECHOES BACK Maybe it’s trauma that makes you treat me this way but does healing your wounds mean opening mine? You say it’s not personal, just reactions, just life. But words don’t… - Mwihaki Maina - Medium
WHEN PAIN ECHOES BACK Maybe it’s trauma that makes you treat me this way but does healing your wounds mean opening mine? You say it’s not personal, just reactions, just life. But words don’t just pass, they pierce. Do you heal by hurting others? Is pain your peace? Maybe I’m the one too full of expectations, of dreams you never signed up for. But why does it feel like I’m part of you? I want you. But why do I feel like I’m fighting alone?
*THE WEIGHT OF BECOMING* If you fail to embrace who you are, They’ll use it like a weapon-leave a scar. Where you’re from, how you move, how you feel, They’ll twist it, bend it, break your will… - Mwihaki Maina - Medium
*THE WEIGHT OF BECOMING* If you fail to embrace who you are, They’ll use it like a weapon—leave a scar. Where you’re from, how you move, how you feel, They’ll twist it, bend it, break your will. You’ll chase a life you don’t yet own, Build castles on a mind overgrown. Expecting too much from a heart still healing, Forgetting that silence is also a feeling. It’s fine you don’t have it—not yet. It’s fine to dream, to want, to sweat. But don’t lose yourself to what’s not true, Be you. Do you.
*"UNINVITED GUEST"*
*"UNINVITED GUEST"* We experience pain we never asked for— yet fate insists we feel it, forces us to live with it. Old traumas find us, unhealed and lingering— echoes of battles we never chose. They teach us how to sit still in sorrow, how to feel numb and call it strength. We watch others bloom in sunlight, while we wrestle shadows in silence. And still, we rise. Still, we breathe. Still, we carry the weight as if it were stitched into our skin.
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