TRUE MASTERPIECES OF NATURE

Picture Courtesy: www.brera.mi.astro.it


When I wore purple shoes last Friday,
I felt good about myself,
Sadly enough,
This feeling lasted the distance
Of my doorstep at home,
To the parking lot of my workplace,
No further than that.


I had barely made it to the entrance
When Kofi run towards me from the
Waakye seller’s selling area,
Wearing a look quite quizzical,
I thought his meal did not quite agree with him,
But before I could enquire,
The reason for his somewhat disapproving look,
He blurted out,
You look absolutely hideous in those shoes of yours.


I stood rooted to the spot,
No different from a totem pole,
Before you even begin think it,
I feel I should tell you this much,
I did not well up in tears.
I just stood there,
Staring,
At my shoes
As if expecting them to suddenly change colour,
Or at the very least,
Say something in our defense.
Those words of Kofi’s,
Hit me like a punch,
I felt naked,
Unclothed,
Clothed in nakedness.


But i I recovered just in time,
Lifted up my head,
And told a tale
About trying to imitate a character I had seen in a movie,
In celebration of his gusto, bravado,
And the air of importance he exuded,
I had adopted his trademark purple shoes for that day.
Kofi said nothing more of my shoes after that.
Wide-eyed stares and questions from other colleagues,
Throughout the day,
Buttressed Kofi’s stance that morning.
I did look hideous in purple shoes after all,
That notwithstanding,
I admired their eccentricity.


Don’t get me wrong,
Nothing could burst my bubble that day,
I just assumed an air of importance,
Intentionally drew attention to my shoes,
Whenever I felt a stare or glare,
Just to deflect unnecessary questions
And uncomfortable conversation,
I only stopped short of clicking my heels,
That probably would have been a wee bit over the top.


At the close of work,
As I walked to the lorry station,
I was all smiles,
As uncouth and curious minds
Alike gawked at my purple feet,
I could not be bothered,
After all,
Could you blame them?
How often does one come across a gentleman
In purple shoes?


Then,
Out of nowhere,
A lady appeared beside me,
In red shoes,
Match made in heaven,
That’s purple and red.
She said,
I absolutely adore your shoes,
I love the colour purple,
I smiled back at her,
Held her hand,
Looked into her big black eyes,
And said,
I wore them especially for you,
She giggled.
Courtesy my purple feet,
We had dinner last Saturday,
Sadly,
My purple shoes were not in attendance,
They were feeling a bit under the weather.


In truth,
I did look absolutely hideous in purple shoes,
I already knew that,
I did not need another to tell me this.
Probably Kofi could have been a bit more subtle
And less brutish in attacking my shoes that day,
But he was neither subtle nor less brutish,
He chose to be frank instead,
And that endeared him to me the more,
For such friends are hard to come by these days,
They pull no punches,
No holds barred,
It is bare knuckles.


Friends of Kofi’s kind are,
Like kenkey with kpakpo shito and fried fish,
Under Akwele’s shed on those hot afternoons,
Always leaves you bathed in sweat,
Yet one keeps asking for more
In between glasses of ice-cold water,
I call such friends,
The what you see is what you get kind,
They are like a brawl at interco,
Leaves you in cuts and bruises,
Yet you are unperturbed for you happened to
Make a new female friend that day,
Who cares if your lower lip is swollen?
It was more than worth it.
Such friends are the one-in-a-millions,
The rare finds,
They are true masterpieces of nature,
Like original paintings,
They put all the fakes hanging around to shame.