Once a Line Drops

Once a line drops
In the mind it crops
As we struggle with their words
With pronunciation getting worse

The supremacy of that language
Like Nkrumah in his age
It spreads further
Their language has feathers

My Grief

Read at Radio Univers, UG. 15th Jan, 07.

In my countless years
In every small good deed
That came from me
All I see is tears
For they render me
The beggarly thanks
And this is nothing but pranks
To untruthfully blind me
But such is human nature
Lies, deceit, ill-thinking!
Such treasures compose their hollow stature
And now I see their conscience shrinking
Yet the dawn gives me life
To fight the rife strife of life.

Nightmare

Read at Radio Univers, UG. 15th Jan. 07.

Would my motherland develop?
I see children nude and barefooted
Like our ancestors
Round stomach and dark faces
Would my motherland develop?
I see mothers with six-year old children
At their cozy back to market
And the classrooms are empty
Would my mother land ever develop?
I fear that which I perceive
Rulers in waste of words
And we grow worse
I see dead people
Dead souls on our lands face
Mingling with the living
With wretchedness on their face

Ancestral Faces

Read at Radio Univers, UG.

Oh! The falling mouth
Hanging heavy with proverbial weight
Their head round, encircled
With ancient wisdom
Dug furrowed brow
Exhausted with intelligence
Eyes milky
For what million evils they see
Their cracked lined soles
Oh for their countless journeys untold
Their palm wined filled belly
In there lies quietly in fury
The unquenching flames of the ancestral spirits
Shrouded by the fist of a pacifist
Angrily ready for drops of wine
Oh to stoke the wet flames
And evoke their spirits
To peaceful war against their enemies
And they last more ages
For they ate not in silver, but pots.

The Curse

Read at Radio Univers, UG.

Life is like a swim
And our blood makes the stream
And life sells seldom his mind
To the wise-fool it refined
When we have horror images
Of life in our crawling stages
With each hastening to its end
In it we have no uncommon friend
For life peeves our very emotion
And me like a dreadful sentinel
I dream if I'm God's son or Satan's angel
The latter has no passion
And if I'm dreamed to die tonight
I curse life for perching while i fight

I Cannot Say

Why the rich do fool
And the wise all sit cool
None can truly tell
For we all may stink on earthly hell
They may have a retinue
Which they pay their job to continue
But why such a wasteful behaviour
I cannot say how it be a behaviour
Life tutors all these
He is an apparent vendetta
The mastermind murderer
He clouds us like bees
And leaves us a painful legacy
A life that is murky

Passion

Who is she
that my love begs her love?
and my tears snake my cheeks
with the swiftest passion
i confess in no shame
my voice quavering, frigid
that i lack in speech.
At the university of Ghana.

The Idea

Indulgence of subtle brains;
these money mongers?
time runs out-comrades
darkness falls, and then we rise
rise in revolution
drop them from the top of the pyramid

Not for long, it shall be over
the poor shall shine and rise
the moon dash us some light
our dolour shall end
but when?

We shall drown them of our silver and gold
it belongs to the earth, where we dwell
it is what we step on
we will keep it for long

But look!
we sit crooned in the pinching sun
vroom! machines, tractors approach
dig again for our wealth?
when will this end?
to eternity
no! we shall not wait

Wedlock

Read at Radio Univers, UG.

Here we sat as two
in holy harmony
with ourselves in key
in tune with nature’s melody
searching her eyes
that I may find sight
in her laughter like flames
to show me the way
with her voice as sweet
sounding like the voice of the sea
singing to my heart
her coolness speaks to my heart
in that my heart rejoices
my heart jumping in joy

The Shiver

You, you blood-drinking mammals
vampires,
where is your guts?
about Lumumba
you have not heard?
they had his countrymen suck him
they sucked him
all his blood
trrrrrrr! making holes in him
and they preach peace

Ah-i shiver in my spine
my ribs crack, my stomach rumble
my jaws split, my legs shake and crumble
i fear we may also die
we may go before we can reply
now we sit
tied to their web strings
we are friends with the enemy
like slaves with their master
they sometimes mutiny
yes! we shall mutiny

Music Man

Read at Radio Universe, UG. 21st Jan, 07.

As the sun rises and sets
you stay under the shadow of his curse
noble and stigmatic is his lyrics
and in this umbrella you shall abide

The music man is like a drunkard
he plays his steps like card
and makes of you a leech
perching everlastingly to his lyrics
he is nothing without his rhythm
and that makes him survive-
kicking him eternally alive
it is positive inspiration to his soul
like a seed, in it he thrives
his record is sold
or not, all he knows
is his hearer

With rhythmical frisky madness
lyrical infatuation and meditating rhymes
he possesses no higgledy-piggledy in his mind
but high sense-not shiftless

With strings of vibrates
he knows that which he says
there is no jilt-his music
he the preacher
you the listener
in him lives the true African spirit
simple with nature
peaceful and true with nature

As he listens to the voice of the sea
and the soothing whispers of the trees
for unsung and unheard melodies
he gets strong beats

He taps his feet
and gets to write feet
pure for tone setting
to the language all understand
the tune we all can dance
in harmony with all the keys-
that is what he sings-
sheer music

His degree?
from the university of African music
he composes his beats
in harmony with the streets.

My Friend My Enemy

Read at Radio Univers, UG.

And why the rich remain rich
and the poor poor
is no mystery

For there is no shrouded risk
beyond the poor’s reach
that the rich may leave ajar their door
that destitutes may dwell
to feast together in one bowl

But they rather feast in the poor’s blood
and leave the poor smiling with death in the casket
they kill their veiled hope
and they still have no sanctuary
than their own friend-enemy
who think them
as a chest piece
of no imagination, intelligence, belief
the rich indeed.

We Weep

Oh Africa
your sons and duaghters run
we fly in search of greener pastures
we your sons forget
you are already green
green with life and land
but you smiled
to your impetuous sons, you smiled
we fled you and yet you loved us
you said you will wait
the long wait
but behind that you wept
you wept bitterly and you still weep
like a baby who's mother is off to market
they exploited your face
your land, trees, sons
they took them to the cold
and they left you decrepit and bruished
their hearts were cobwebs
they now stretch their hands
they have repented?
their pardonable God, He forgave them?
for their brutalities against humanity?
they say ours is black
but they were wicked and black

Africa! we now remember our sins
we have rediscovered you
Africa, your tears overflowed your banks
it has reached us, we know your patience

Another Son is Gone

He leaves quietly
only his mother, father,
sister, brother know
he spends his last night quietly
in solitude to avoid those eyes
the many wicked treacherous eyes
mouth must speak with caution
not to divulge it or even mention
not to any living or dead soul
else they charm hindrance to his soul
but it has ended.
all these superstition, charm
or whatever you call it has all ended

There is a change in things
new way of celebrating
hullabaloo, gossip, whispering
drinks, dance, music, merry--making
from visa to ticket, departure
to arrival in the whiteman's land
but what is the hue and cry for?

He has to hustle on his neck
just like his fathers in the farms
he is in the factory packing rice bags
to send forty dollars
weep, i weep, for we lose another brain

Look At Them

as i tread on this path;
the ungodly stared hard
their eyes wild with fury
they sat up high on the mountain
what is their worry?
oh, perhaps they intend to maintain
maintain what?
aha! you ask too much, sorry
power i mean
oh i see; so they are mean
who doesn't know
politicians and "politricks"
they snake to power with tricks
like bats in the night
they drain our pockets to poor heights
following the dirty paths of their masters
those they accused of cheating
is it not the same sin they are committing?
they even do it more with pins
shhhhhhh--quiet. we'll be heard
we are dead, but we will live
they left us in tattered penury
we will roast in peace under our own
blood. now scavengers, senseless, selfish

A Solemn Prayer

Let not my efforts crush
That my enemies sit and laugh
Rather clouded in fame
All in the glory of thy name
By your manifold,great mercies
Let me abide in thy good tendencies
For the world rise
In earnest to swallow me
That destiny obscure me
Till i die!
In faith i forbid!
That their brains meet
In harmony
Their action be scuttled
Never again to settle
Hallelujah!
As they fall
An then-- i shall stand tall

SLOW MURDERS

Giving this tragedy
A disguiseful name
Aha!- Brain Drain

A bloke put up a house
My son, said he
I'll leave the house
Like this, when you can,
Continue up
And that built a city
Our pro's fly
In search of greener hay
Perhaps in the air
Where no reverence prevails
Seemingly forgetting that
Owners of land there work to build
Their nation on the neck of foreigners

Choosing money over peace,
Love,saving brothers-- not trees
Well...someday they'll
Have their conscience,sense
Until then-- roast in peace

Uncertainties

Life's like a mirror
Even or life is borrowed
And are not even promised tomorrow
The dead carried in palanquin?
Upraised with songs like a queen
Celebrate the dead
Why won't we have more dead?
Cherish the frigid bodies in freezer
For lingering preparation longer
Vague promising
When born
During outdooring
Perhaps the happiest moment
But for a week
Child becomes weak

THE UNBALANCED

On a shelve bottles stood tall
Unlabelled.Also in big barrells
In this new world
King of drinks!
Control every step
With that bitter-sweet taste
An intake
Bring such a grimace
On the drunkard's face
On that give he praise
Piously bow head quarterly
In unseen reverence
To Akpeteshie
Locally brewed gin
Alcohol content?
Hmmm-infinity...
Keeps you dwindling to extent
That you tumble
Your talks all fumble
Your mouth burning with foams
Hands shaking in trouble
They stagger,stultify,stumble...
To self slavery...