EKURASE

The night always young
peasants resuming from labor
Noise of children so real and loud

Igniting a chorus through every deafening silence
¹Ekurase

Each day too young to die
Footprints denting sand dunes
All are busy, none will dare sleep
Every man at his best
Ekurase

Household sits around the illuminating fire
Listening to the sage as he unties wisdom knot
Gray hairs nods in agreement amidst the lads
And in a mellow mood they enjoy every word

Tell us legends which preceded our birth,
and why death has no cure, they seem to ask
But night has journeyed far and old folks are weary,
They wait for a fortnight

Ekurase!
Forever my love at first sight.

¹Ekurase: Akan name for village

First published at http://poetryfoundationghana.org/index.php/traditional-poems/item/303-ekurase
Copyright (C) 2013

A CALL TO ORDER!

I choose to write what they will ignore.
What they will not write in their stack of sheets-
Those reports of how they manipulated the sphere.

And influenced the courts of justice.

Yes, I know, 
they'll pick with me a fight
For I shed light on our plights. 
Our rights to enjoy the taxes we work so hard to pay. 
Not to pay bribe again before we get our monthly pay.

Now, be alert and tell them not to pervert. 
We've seen all the fake certs they use- We are Africans, not jerrycans  
Or T-rolls to be used and dumped.

Our schools shelf our knowledge in papers they call thesis. 
Our labour sits as white elephant waiting rot, when it could bring redemption to our homes.
These notes only sell ¹abele na nketie 
Therefore, In sobriety I ask of our nation-
Of our leaders to take second thoughts-

To think or we sink.

¹abele na nketie: roasted maize and groundnut sold in Ghana and served in brown papers or used newspapers.


First published at http://poetryfoundationghana.org/index.php/theme/social-poems/item/66-a-call-to-order

Copyright (C) 2013

SWAYED BY RUTHLESS WINDS?

The wind blows over all

The fool and the wise

The rich and the wealthy

The mighty and the not-so mighty

So who can avert the wind's course, except to position himself?

Copyright (C) 2013

DO NOT, I PRAY YOU DO NOT!!

Do not let me in

If I stop by your wretched home

In search of shelter.

Do not serve me a glass of water

If I stop by your wretched home

To quench my thirst.

Do not spare me your time

If i stop by your wretched home

To greet you.

Do not, I pray you! do not

For I must reach the end of my journey

And it is not my wish to be your acquaintance or carry you along

Oh lazy cocoon, you can never be my bosom friend.

Copyright (C) 2012

FIGHT NOT THE WIND O'GOOD FELLOW

www.artnectar.com

We fight our enemies over a grain yet

The greenery stare us in the face and

In silence we chant

‘We shall destroy you at the ripening of dawn,

Crackling of noon and rotting away of dusk’.

We drown our enemies over a drop yet

The vast waters flow seamlessly in our presence and

In silence we chant

‘We shall bury your strength in the heart 

Of this earth,

Of waves roaring and breeze twirling’.

We covet our enemies over a crumb yet

Our table is filled with meat and more meat and

In silence we chant

‘We shall starve your desires from the music of hope,

Illumination of their sun and the dance of progress’.

Alas, why fight our own?

Mimicking the jealousy of crabs;

Of selfish men

Of wolves in sheep’s clothing

So we prowl and stagger strenuously in strange shoes; in search of another dream

Forgetting that wind like death knows all, the grain and the green

The crumb and the fill, the drop and the stream

Blowing all into one chaff

Only to notice we have been naked while the real enemy mocked us akimbo

But

We

Have

Another

Chance

Today

To

Shun Hatred.

Copyright (C) 2013

4th June 2013

YUSUF AND ABIBA

(Yusuf tickles Abiba..they smile..She tickles him)
.
.
.
.
.
You sparkle like the sun in its prime
and like the moon in full bloom
so stick with me like dust to earth, that
just like Romeo and Juliet
we remain, Yusuf and Abiba.


Copyright (C) 2013