'Kilindini, path of waters.'

I am sure I came across those words somewhere-
it must have been in the days when, for the first time, I had just discovered the gem of African poetry
I am sure that they must still be hidden in some obscure anthology,
which I may have accidentally stumbled upon in those years, so long ago,
when I was learning to immerse myself in the fantasy world of make believe to escape the reality, unfolding around me
as my voice and heart were slowly breaking in the first days of my un-innocence-
when I was first discovering the pleasure and the pain
of unrequited love

they haunt me still, those words-
like spirits that lurk in the shadows of my wakefulness
they haunt me-
whispering, beckoning, taunting and pleading with me to apprehend their meaning. 
and yet, like a beautiful dream that fades away with the birthing of the sun each morning-
the more I try to apprehend their meaning,
the more the rest of the words that would complete them, fade away.

they haunt me still-
yet I do not know what they want of me
and, like some mediaeval knight in search of the Holy chalise
I have searched to no avail
for the rest of the words that would indeed complete this haunting,
yet beautifully sad poem 

and now I turn to the ether world-
i turn to this parallel living universe
expanding at the other side of my screen-
hoping that there is somebody out there for whom these worlds mean something-
somebody, perhaps, who also read the poem once upon a time and knows the rest of its words.

Or are these words just a creation of my own idle imagination? 
yet, I have tried to craft something beautiful out of them
but the whispering embraces silence the moment I try to make them mine-
they slip away each time I try to possess them

and yet when I try to let them go, they remain,
hovering within my sight,
yet without my reach.

so, perhaps there is someone out there, excited enough
who is able and willing to craft wings for them that they will live and be made free.

‘Kilindini path of waters-

"Kilindini, path of waters , " I too have been haunted by these words for almost fifty years. I felt they were from a poem by John Masefield who was the poet laureate. I think he spent time in Kenya (Kilindini is the name of Mombasa Harbour), and he wrote about the sea a good deal, but I have searched everywhere to no avail. Being an ex-Kenyan, I would love to find this poem. There is a Masefield Society I believe, who may know more , ? Any clues, anyone?

"Please set these words free" is so evocative - well done indeed!

are you sure these two posters are not the same person
Because I dont see how anyone else would know a word like Kilindini

I live in Australia but lived in Kenya for 25 years, and am certainly not the same person as the one who wrote "Set these words free". I think he/she lives in London from what I see. Kilindini is known to all Kenyans, and others I am sure, as it is the main port of Mombasa Harbour, and is (or was) a beautiful entrance to the port. I was so excited to see the "Set these words free" item as I have searched for this poem everywhere. I was beginning to think I had imagined them, but I think we must have learnt them at school in Kenya. It is very frustrating. I wish the people from the Masefield Society in England would reply to my enquiries! Or that someone could come up with the name of the poem! Anyone

Also, I am not happy to see that my Facebook now has Nairaland Forum on it - I have not given permission and do not want it there - thank you.