Wednesday, December 21, 2011

YOU AND ME




Picture courtesy www.stockarch.com


You and me
Just us two
Let’s meet in the
Nests of sunsets


Next to each other
Side by side
On fallen tree trunks
Among the tall trees


Away from prying
Eyes
Like shadows in
Between leaves


Lose me in scents
Smiles and evergreen
Beauties of you


I know there’s you
And then there’s me
But there’s nothing
Better than you and me

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I SAW IT ALL




I saw madness
It roamed the city streets


Free, unbridled
Making nonsense of sense.


I saw madness,
Sit still, at ease.


It was beautiful,
It was humbling.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

LIKE NOTHING......

LIKE NOTHING.....




Picture courtesy www.commons.wikimedia.org

It was like nothing
You’ve ever felt
Before


It was madness
In tailor-made suits
And spit-shined shoes


It was morning dew
And moonlight on the
Afternoon of a dry season


It was writing right
When all you’ve ever been
Is left-handed


It was running
On ice cubes in bathroom
Slippers with wet feet


Truly it was,
Like nothing you’ve
Ever felt before


This is a link to my blog

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

INTO THE SUNSET




Picture courtesy www.dailyhodgepodge.wordpress.com


I go away not for wants
But rather the have to(s)
Of life demand it so.


I leave your company
Not knowing how long
But it will be for only a while.


I know of where I go
But I know nothing of the place
Yet you and father time have taught me
I’ll never be out of place no matter the place.


When it rains remember me,
When it shines remember me,
Everyday, please remember me
For I carry you with me in my heart.

Monday, May 30, 2011

FAITH IN A VOICE



Picture courtesy www.clipartof.com



A voice,
It is nothing but sound.


A voice,
A photograph in time.


A voice serves no
Purpose till pregnant with belief.


Have faith,
Have faith in your own voice.


Only then will you become
More than just a voice.


Only then will you
Stand out among so many others.


Only then will the world
Sit at your feet and listen to your voice.


Where is your voice?
Find your voice.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

PORTRAITS OF PASSION




Picture courtesy www.stamping.craftgossip.com


Rain drops beat
Incessantly on the
Roof of their umbrella
In a fit of jealousy.


Puddles of water
Conspired with mud
In futility as they
Barely noticed the splotches.


The sound of their
Laughter rose up and
Drowned out the clap
Of thunder.


The clouds hurried
Along looking rather
Embarrassed,
The two lovebirds had
Stolen their thunder.

TEARS FOR A DREAM



Picture courtesy www.mstaken.com


Laughter hung on the
Walls like paintings.


Smiles straddled
The window panes.


The floor was see-through
Like water from a spring.


The corridors were lit
By sunlight during the day.


At night,
The moon roamed the halls.


As white clouds looked
Upon me from far yet close by.


Sweet air delighted the
Senses with aplomb.


Soft music slid down the walls
On sheepwool wings.


With day and night
Tugging at each other’s lapels.


As birds warbled in the
Shimmering leaves outside.


But then came a gentle tap,
My eyes woke to today.


I held my tears as they cried
For I had been dreaming all along.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

UNDRESSED WORDS



Picture courtesy www.wamathai.com



Words lie
Yet words speak truth.


Words hurt
Yet words give life.


Words make friends
Yet words alienate.


Words elevate
Yet words condemn.


Words bring love
Yet words are hate.


These ears hear words
Yet they’re deaf to words.


These ears
Pay no heed to words.


These ears,
They seek undressed words.


Naked,
In full glare.


That which seeks
Audience with daylight.


Undressed words,
The height of human interaction.

Monday, May 23, 2011

THE PATIENCE OF TRAGEDY




Picture courtesy www.amptoons.com


Everything sits on
The cusp of tragedy.


A step too far
Another too short


A look too sideways
The other too stiff.


We’re quite far
Yet pretty close


Tragedy,
It just sits and waits.

Friday, May 20, 2011

THE TRUTH




Picture courtesy www.dekku.nofatclips.com


Someone spoke to me,
Of nothing but truth.


But I have not the
Slightest idea of truth.


Yet when I heard it
I knew it was truth.


For it was humble and
Refreshingly blunt.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

HOW LONG IS FOREVER




Picture courtesy www.photobucket.com


I stared upon your
Face and all I
Saw was forever,
Without knowing
How long is forever.


You painted silver
Linings on the edges of
My heart,
Sunlight after sunset,
You brought sunshine
To my midnights.


Yesterday
Today
Tomorrow,
My days same,
I listen to my fears cry
Themselves to sleep.


I sew a punctured heart with
Threadless needles and tears
As time sublimes,
Wondering,
How long is forever?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

DUST BEFORE WIND




Picture courtesy www.universetoday.com



Dust,
On journeys at the
Whim of the wind.


Day sees no
More than the
Daylight.


Night shies away
From light at peace
In the dark.


Life stands on a precipice,
Clad in faith and naked belief,
Waiting to rend garments
Of flesh.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

PAGES OF A BLANK SCRIPT




Picture courtesy www.123rf.com


Smiles
Woven in beauty
Tease day and night.


Laughter
Falling off shoulders
Caress the ears.


Voice
Like wild honey
On swings by the seaside.


Lips
Two crescent moons
Glazed in icing on a starry night.


Dimples
That leave eyes hiccupped
Hearts a sea of random uncoordinated beats.


Hair
Raven black
Like creeping plants following behind.


Eyes
Set alight damp firewood
On cold rainy nights.


Eyebrows
Like two halves of a circle
Frolicking in beach sand.


Eyelashes,
Dressed in perfect curves
Arcs of a compass.


Nose,
Tells tales of the master
Potter and his battered old wheel.


Kisses
Like scones fresh out the oven
With clotted cream and strawberry
Jam on a beautiful afternoon.


Love wants everything
Love is unconditional
Love is a blank script.

Monday, May 16, 2011

THE HUMAN SYMPHONY




Picture courtesy www.luckylabrescue.com


Strings,
Violins, violas
Cellos and double basses.


Woodwinds
Oboes, flutes
Bassoons and clarinets.


Brass,
Trumpets, horns
Trombones and tuba.


Percussion,
Kettle drums, snare drums
Cymbals and triangles.


Others,
Pianos and harps.


Diversity,
Fine-tuned harmony,
That perfect symphony.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

GONE ARE THE DAYS




Picture courtesy www.flickr.com


Gone are the days when
We could tell the coming
Of the seasons.


Our days have decayed
Into a putrid mess tinged
With fermented hope.


Gone are the days when
Fishing nets broke under the
Weight of the catch.


The sea sits irreparably
Stained barely able to
Mimic the blue sky.


Gone are the days when trees
Were majestic and could
Afford to sway.


The trees of today are
The saplings of yesterday,
Ashamed to be called trees.


Gone are the days when
Birds were songs decked
In feathers.


They’ve forgotten what it
Means to sing and no longer
Care to wonder why.


Gone are the days when man
Was primitive yet happy among
The leaves and forest animals.


Man defiles all forms of life
Including his own without pause,
He fails to live for others and himself.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

IN REVERENCE



Picture courtesy www.florida-arts.org


Where I come from,
We’re in unending
Reverence of the
Eloquent and learned.


So much so that
We put them in cages
With tempered bars,
And entertain those with
Tongues turned upside down.

Monday, May 9, 2011

FLIGHT FROM ONE ANOTHER




Picture courtesy www.site.k8websites.com


Yesterday,
We built next to
Each other,
Shared compounds and
Told stories by firesides
In the courtyard.


Today,
We hug walls and fences
Peering over at each other,
As though we were
Diseased and at war
With one another.


Tomorrow,
We’ll become
Balloons and fly far from
Each other,
We’ll barely see one another
Let alone dream of talking
Like we are right now.

Friday, May 6, 2011

LOST FOLK




Picture courtesy www.examiner.com


It was many years ago,
We lay in mud huts
And found peace on
Straw mats.


It was many years ago,
We gyrated in the market
Square
Half-naked, half-mad
To the sound of talking drums.


It was many years ago,
We drunk from calabashes
And ate heartily out of corn
Husks with our fingers out in the open.


We now drink orange juice
Without the orange fruit
And forget the countrysides
Which are the nurseries that
Gave birth to us.


We now dance with little
Meaning to sounds from
Mute drums,
With neither soul nor spirit,
Overcooked, overhyped and
Oversold tunes.


These are the days of the
Modern folk,
Struggling to embrace what
They’ve become and wondering
Where they came from.


The land thirsts for music
That quenches thirst,
The air is rife with perfume
That irks the nose,
The mountains look on
Bemused and ask,
Where did the natives go?

Thursday, May 5, 2011

FUTURE OF TOMORROW




Picture courtesy www.clipartguide.com


Tomorrow is
Etched on the
Faces of the
Playground.


The chatter
Speaks of the
Future,
Of what might
And might not be.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS




Picture courtesy www.yankodesign.com


In the sandboxes
Swings,
Ferris wheels
Crayons
Muddied fields
Silly crushes
Pigtails and pleated
Skirts of childhood
We embraced experiments,
Unearthed free expression
And became free thinkers,
We questioned that which moved
And that which did not,
We sought to find meaning in
Everything and anything.


In the confines of schooling,
We reveled in the triumphs and
Defeats of daycare, kindergarten,
Primary, secondary and tertiary
Education,
We were taught to walk and sit without the
Slouch,
Stand upright without turning our feet
Onto the sides and ruining our shoes,
Straighten neckties and lose our
Innate fear of strangulation,
Speak and punctuate at will instead
Of forming our own based on sounds that
We heard and did not really hear,
We questioned very little and became a
Statistic in the status quo,
We thought very little and copied a lot,
We’ve become painted impressions on
Grey walls,
We’re masters at keeping up appearances.


Now,
Free expression suffers and
With it the child,
But growing up has never really been about
Wearing white shirts all day and
Keeping them snow-white devoid of creases,
It’s about adding onto what we learnt
As children and finding ourselves in
The everydays of life,
Chipping away at our jagged edges and
Smoothening out rough ends.


Everyday,
All we continually do
Is build walls and marginalize
The child that was us many years ago,
And in between glasses of
Wine, grilled chicken,
Veggie burgers
Plates of pumpkin pie,
Stiffies,
Hickies
Maps showing cleavage,
Terrible kisses and those of the
Hair-raising kind that leaves smoke
Shooting from our ears and billowing
Out our backsides,
We’ve forgotten how and what
Made us truly happy growing up,
When all we have to do is revisit the child
And learn the unshakeable truth,
Sandboxes and mud never lie,
True happiness is all around,
We’ve just gotten too complex to figure
That out.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

EMPTY SEATS



Picture courtesy www.flickr.com


Buildings cascaded to an aria
Of dust and burning human flesh.


Smoke and blood
Tickled the innocent skies pale white.


A world on an excursion
In the underbelly of the beast.


People broken
And beyond repair


Others lost in the
Din of poignant silence.


Dreams haunted
Nightmares catatonic with fear.


Never quite left
Things the way he met them.


Forever the farmer,
Cultivated pain on human lives.


Left empty seats at dinner
Tables the world over.


But morning brought
Embittered a hint of closure.


One day, the world woke to
News of the death of Osama.

Friday, April 29, 2011

THE TRAGEDY OF EYES




Picture courtesy www.searchartinfo.com


Eyes,
Like mirrors,
They see all but
Themselves.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

TIME




Picture courtesy www.gizmodo.com


Time is happiness
Time is sorrow


Time is wisdom
Time is ignorance


Time is beauty
Time is ugly


Time is life
Time is death

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

WAYS OF A CLOCK




Picture courtesy www.guardian.co.uk


Clocks tick and chime
Clocks tell time
Clocks tell us there’s
Still time.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

WINDS OF CHANGE




Picture courtesy www.peoplesdesignaward.cooperhewitt.org


Cool breeze
That well mannered
Well travelled wind.


Gentle
Good company
Agrees with the skin.


Unruly
Erratic
Foreboding storms.


Straws and twigs
Wrecked homes
Unscripted lines.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

STORY OF THE PAINTER




Picture courtesy www.brendannolan.ie


Sometimes,
When it is pitch
Dark,
A flurry of
Colours scurry
Out from within.


Sometimes,
When it is pitch
Dark,
All you see is
The colour black.


Dark or otherwise
There’s still colour
In there,
Imagine there were
None.


It is never about
The colours to
Begin with,
You are the only
Colour that matters.

ON THE OTHER SIDE




Picture courtesy www.masks-wigs-and-costumes.com


Underneath brush
Strokes and subtle
Reminders of tips
Of coloured pencils
Sits a face yearning
To breathe,
Tired of looking at
Sunlight through the eyes
Of a kaleidoscope of colours
And expensive dirt.


Befriended only by
Mirrors and bathroom
Walls,
Waiting,
For that day when
She’ll walk naked among
The multitudes and in between
Short gasps of breath and
Overpowering excitement manage
To speak these words,
I am beautiful.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

JOURNEY OF LIFE




Picture courtesy www.flickr.com


Though in the midst
Of many,
I journey without
Company,
Just myself and life,
That’s enough company.

Monday, April 18, 2011

IDLE THOUGHT




Picture courtesy www.delarge.co.uk


In the sea of idle thought
Lie decayed and decaying
Reminisces, wishes and dreams
Of tomorrow, today and
Yesterday.


Time sits idle in
The eyes of the idle mind,
With thoughts punctuated by
Surreal impressions of that which
Seems just within reach such
That one can touch them.


In the awakening of an idle
Mind begins a journey of
Lost time and disappointment
Old age,
Time never tarries,
It sure does fly,
Idle thoughts are thieves of time
Unless harnessed just in time.

Friday, April 15, 2011

CAT’S GONE MISSING




Picture courtesy www.swapmeetdave.com


Comes dancing on the wall
Stops!!
Stares!!
Through my bedroom window
Straight at me….
Shoo!! Shoo!!
I cry out loud,
It never shoos,
Leaves when it wants to
Regardless how loud I shoo.


Every morning,
Like clockwork,
Where the plantain leaves run
Astride the brick wall,
There it lies
Sleepy as always,
It yawns
Covers its mouth with a paw,
Rolls over once
Then twice
Sometimes even thrice
Then it falls asleep.


At night,
Before ten,
When all sit still,
It wiggles through an opening
Under the metallic gate
Tiptoes across the compound
Heads for the garbage shoot,
Shoo!! Shoo!!
I shout at it through the
Glass door,
It stops and stares
Almost looks offended.


The door creaks on its hinges,
I go charging out,
Guess what,
It finally shoos,
Slides through the opening
Underneath the gate
But far from gone,
I spy paws from where I stand
Till I hurl a stone and it hears
A distinct bang as stone impacts metal
It bids its time,
Patience really must be a virtue.
For months now
Not once have I bolted the
Garbage shoot shut
Yet garbage sits in there
Idle and untouched.


I no longer see it asleep atop the
Brick wall in the shade of plantain leaves,
It no longer comes prancing up and
Down the wall outside my bedroom window
Staring at me as though I were the intruder.


Never really a friend of mine
Never really my own
We just grew on each other as time
Went by,
Funny,
I miss that grey and white cat.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

HANDICAPPED




Picture courtesy www.daviddonaldsondc.com


Those with sight
Know faces,
The ones without
Know footsteps,
We all have our handicap.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

FULL CIRCLE




Picture courtesy www.theghanaianjournal.com


A lack of
Consequence
Festers impunity,
With time
Society turns
On itself.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

WAITING ON A TRAIN




Picture courtesy www.aiga.org


Until we realize
We’re here for the
Good of the lot,
We’ll always
Struggle to find
What is ours.


Truth be told,
Nothing really is
Ours,
Not even the shirts
Our backs,
We’re all just
Waiting on a train.

Monday, April 11, 2011

COMPLEMENTS OF TIME




Picture courtesy www.flickr.com


In the absence
Of day and night,
Time makes
Little sense.

Friday, April 8, 2011

MAZES OF THE MIND




Picture courtesy www.gwydir.demon.co.uk


Yoke and rope
Are the tutelage
Of a servant.


Self-worth is the
Beginning of
Emancipation.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

BREATHE




Picture courtesy www.signnetwork.com


She has these eyes,
Big black eyes that tell
Stories,
Stories that put
Nightmares to sleep and
Awaken sweetdreams.


Her voice,
Oh! That voice,
Sings lullabies,
Soothes the soul
And teases the senses till
You’re lost in syllables
Rhyme and phonetics
Of common words
Which suddenly become
Uncommon words.


Her smile,
Makes the sun blush,
Tickles the night white
And blends days into one
Another,
Leaves yesterday,
Today and tomorrow
At loggerheads with each other.


Her hips,
Sway from side
To side
Mimicking the varying
Heights of the Himalayas
The toss and turn of tidal
Waves on those days when the
Sea is playful and gay.


Lost in a daydream
With hickeys on my
Neck,
Traces of lipstick on
My shirt,
The smell of nail polish
In my nostrils
Sand in my shoes
Breathe……..

SEVEN




Picture courtesy www.desiringgod.org


Burdened by his wares
He squints through
The blinding sun as
Sweat off his brow
Stings the eyes scarlet.


At night
On the wailing floor boards
Of that blue kiosk
He dreams of becoming a
Doctor someday,
Seven,
He’s yet to begin school.

Monday, April 4, 2011

CLOTHES OF NAKEDNESS




Picture courtesy www.ghanaweb.com



They were architects,
They called the shots,
They led the pack.


They stood and gawked
They watched in excitement
They had no objections.


She was centre stage
She wailed and begged
She found deaf ears.


Today I mourn,
Oh!! Yes I mourn
But I mourn neither
The aggrieved
Nor the one in grief


I mourn that moment in
Time when death was visited
Upon the sanctity of womanhood
In the name of retribution.

SILENT TONGUES




Picture courtesy www.mediabistro.com


Time brought change
To our doorsteps and
We obliged
Sadly,
Our tongues did not.


Today,
Our tongues have
Lost relevance
Fallen silent
We’re left choking on
A dead language only
Revered in scrolls.

Friday, April 1, 2011

SHADOWS SOON FORGOTTEN




Picture courtesy www.flickr.com


Men who seek nothing
But to become average
Have neither face nor
Remembered by even
The children off their day.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

LOST IN TRANSLATION




Picture courtesy www.qualteam.tripod.com


When night came,
I saw dream and reality
Walk hand-in-hand
In spit-shined boots and
Workmen’s clothes.


Now I troll the
Grainy portions of
Midnight,
In search of reason that
Can put me to sleep.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A DIRGE FOR THE LIVING




Picture courtesy www.cinema.theiapolis.com


Indifference is the
Burial ground of
The living,
With eulogies
And tributes already
Proofread by the dead.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A FOOL’S FOLLY




Picture courtesy www.techpavan.com


At the courts of pride
Lie many skulls,
None the wiser
None the more foolish.


When one has a wealth
In pride and a pittance
In wisdom,
The end is never in doubt.

Monday, March 28, 2011

BLIND UNCONSCIOUSNESS




Picture courtesy www.blog.desaieyehospital.com


The night brings
Blindness,
That which arrests
Our consciousness.


Sometimes ephemeral
Sometimes eternal
But freedom and dignity have
Never thrived in darkness.


Take them not lightly
Freedom
Dignity
Another sits blind and
Unconscious this very moment,
Dreaming of those two.

Friday, March 25, 2011

OUR RUNAWAY CONSCIENCE




Picture courtesy www.bbc.co.uk



Have you ever walked
On a knife’s edge?
Not literally,
Actually.


It was for a day
Then a week
A month went by
It’s been months now
We’re headed for a year.


Guess your camel’s back
Is fashioned out of
Tempered steel,
Mine sits broken,
Beyond repair and recognition.


Their bodies smeared with clay
Others fully clothed
Some naked no more than sunlight
At birth
Took to the streets waving tree branches
Looking very troubled and displeased.


A march for peace in pieces,
Seven died,
Among them an expectant mother,
Mowed down in a hail of
Bullets,
Their clothes of nakedness
Tree branches and clay attires
Must have resembled Kalashnikovs
And suicide vests in the Ivorian daylight.


Final straw or so I thought,
Little did I know you had countless
Barns choking at the eaves on straw.
You gather round tables in expensive
Suits exchanging pleasantries with
A host of tete-a-tetes on the side.


Casualties pile up high like levees
Being readied for another Katrina,
Refugee status suddenly a new Ivorian craze,
La Cote d’Ivoire,
A festering gangrenous stain on
A world’s runaway conscience.


If only you could boast barrels
Of oil instead of your sacks of
Pungent cocoa seeds,
We’d have boots on the ground
And no-fly-zones declared in less a
Twinkling of an eye,
We’d be falling over ourselves
Just to bring you calm lest a hair
On your head come to harm.


Oh!
How spectacular,
Spectacularly spectacular,
A world so unspectacularly
Spectacular,
La Cote d’Ivoire,
Your peace deemed an unworthy
Investment by a world struggling
To find its lost conscience.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

C’EST LA VIE




Picture courtesy www.images.com


Finally managed
Say goodbye,
I put you on a broomstick
Headed for the sunset of yesterday,
You clad in picture frames
Scents of Bvlgari and Issey Miyake
In your wake.


You’re a distant memory now,
Like sand in my shoes
I just poured you out
Footprints trailing
The very spot where
I’ve left you behind.


Bags in hand,
Echoes of my footsteps
Caressing the sand,
Head bowed
Brows furrowed,
Guess the sun of
Tomorrow will tell,
C’est la vie.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

THE RABBIT IN THE HAT




Picture courtesy www.squidoo.com


Should there ever come a time
When the harmattan brings rain,
Don’t ask me why,
I don’t make the rules,
Guess once in a while,
Straight lines must lose their way.


Sometimes when
One walks on pavements,
They end up with muddy shoes,
How improbable,
If only cobblestones could speak,
We’d have answers as to why and how.


Orange trees do spring
Forth lemons sometimes,
Ask the farmer on the day of
The wayward harvest,
You’ll find truth in the glum
Face he wears to match his overalls.


Darkness sometimes
Brings smiles in the
Absence of daylight,
Just ask the man in the moon,
Why else will he turn up only
At pitch dark?


So on that day
Should you wake to
Find just a hat without
A suit to go,
Afford yourself a smile
Take a peek inside that hat
And pull a rabbit,
Never a surety,
But sometimes rabbits do
Wait for us in the grainy hats we draw.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

BIRDS AND SCHOOL CHILDREN




Picture courtesy www.coleshillparishchurch.org.uk


Like birds,
They wear uniforms too.


Twitching
Fidgeting,
They make a terrible noise
Just like the birds.


All over the place by day
Gone by night,
If only they could fly and
Poop from sky-high,
You’d mistake them for birds,
Quite rightly so too.


There’s only one difference
Just the one,
School children go to school,
Birds, far from that,
They learn on the job,
That’s school enough.

Monday, March 21, 2011

CRY JAPAN




Picture courtesy www.kansas.com


I walk in search
Of a home that
Exists only in memory.


These wastelands
Littered with debris
Tears and glum faces
Are unfamiliar to me.


Clear as day
Yet not even a
Glimmer of light,
All I see is darkness
In broad daylight.


Mornings
Bring midnight.
Moon and stars
In absentia.


Sirens
Smoke
Radiation
So commonplace,
Where is home?
This is not home.

Friday, March 18, 2011

DYING TO FALL



Picture courtesy www.urbangardencasual.com


Atop branches
They hang evergreen,
Though some
Pretty far from green,
Life does spring forth
In different shades of colour.


One after the other
They drop like flies,
The passing of time
Prompts change,
When time’s spent,
They hurry into heaps
And lie still.


Be they up in the air
Or on the ground below,
Always a thing of beauty
Except to the untrained eye,
Nature never makes a mess.