TIME AND TIDE

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We dance across

Continents and time



Death and time,

The love story of humankind



A tale told

Since the beginning of man



The death of time

The death of man



On tiptoes

I dance to the sounds of my time



I am afraid of awakening

Ghosts of yesterday’s plans



Waylaid on

Highways that used to come here



Stillborn schemes,

Pipedreams with no pipes to dream



As days and months

Have intercourse



Several years are born

Between erasers, pencils and pens.



Out of time, I pass on

Between tick-tock and chimes



Greatness has been aborted

It was not carried to term




Mortality haunts me

Humanity mocks me




Death sits and laughs

Gleefully awaits the end of time




My time is near

Greyed out, I’m all out of years



I bury my life

Stillborn and expired



Old and weak

I fall asleep on my silver hair



As the sun and moon embrace

Slowly, I walk into the light



A funeral party of one

and so many tears



I shed tears

My tears are in tears



The hall is packed

My tears came with tears



Time the victor

Time the villain



Me,

The victim of my time.



Stories untold

Undreamt dreams



All too soon

It is the end of time.

SOMETHING INSIDE

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You are a song with feathers
Perched deep inside,

Words without words,
Yet I sing,

No stopping at all.
You are a broken branch,

Hanging on tight,
Never letting go,

Audacious enough to let
Hips sway from side to side.

That which keeps me
Through the bitter cold,

Saying,
The beauty of tomorrow

Comes in warm clothes.
You are a child on the streets

Can neither read nor write,
Out of school for too long years,

Dreams of becoming
A doctor someday.

Hope became my
Friend today,

Crossed my path on that
Lonely dusty road again,

Whispered softly in my ear,
Tomorrow, you’ll be just fine.

FACES INSIDE

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Houses reveal faces inside
Smiles giggles and friendly frowns
Sun breezes
Sun flowers
Grasses weeds twigs
As butter flies bring beauty
Death passes away.


Hope truly an eternal spring
Life is hope
To hope is to live
Life and hope
Siamese twins that live within
Every Tom Dick and Harry too.


We live once but twice we die
Death begins at the death of hope
Death begins when death begins
Life and hope, eternal twins.


Hips conjoined with all else
Yet never at once but
Panyin thence cometh Kakra
Hope, the seed that brings life to life
Hope is life and life…….
Is hope.
Houses are paintings of the faces inside.


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BURIED THAT YOU MAY LIVE

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You were not wrapped
In linen

Neither were you laid
In a coffin

We thrust you in dirt
With clothes of nakedness

Buried,
That someday you may live

No one wailed
There was no ceremony

We hurried with it
We went on our way

Yet water we did give you everyday,
After all, thirst is everyday.

Who sends water to the buried
You ask?

I bid you wait,
Tomorrow is answers for today

Days gave birth to months
Weeds overrun where you lay

We pulled at them
But they just would not go

Tired of this game of cat
And mouse, we let them be.

Then one morning
With the sun on your heels

You broke through dirt
Opened up to the heavens crying
I’m alive!!

Folks,
My ode to a mango tree.

GOSSIP FOLKS

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Remember that man?
Oh you know the one.

The one with a
Frown so eternal.

Always gets the dog yelping,
As if it had just sat on its balls.

Oh darn!
Do you always need a spoon?

Listen carefully,
Offload the wax in your ears.

I’ll tell you this much,
But just the once
Lest I be called a gossip.

Shh……
Darn!
Now where was i?

Oh yes!
That man.

He got run over,
By the baker’s bicycle.

Broke his cane
Right in two!

No, wait
Broke his eyes in two.

Or was it rather him
Who broke the baker in two.

Heck,
I best be on my way.

A minute,
Where did I say I was off to again?

IN SEARCH OF HOME

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I’m on my way,
But where to?
Probably home,
But where is home?
Who has seen home?

So many forks in the road
I’m confused,
Which way do I turn?
Like a broken compass,
I fail find true North.

Its afternoon
Yet I Walk in search of daylight.
At night,
Darkness gives my bit o sleep
Sleepless nights.

Like the hands of a clock
I move to the rhythm of tick tock
Going through the motions
From dusk till dawn

Then today,
You wake my consciousness
Like wind straddling that sleepy
Trapdoor on crooked hinges.


Right there and then,
As if on cue,
Pen meets paper
I begin to write.

I smile,
Wider, becomes my smile
Like a child held in
A mother’s arms.

You are home,
You’ve always been here
Home is pen and paper
Home is peace
Home is when I sit to write.

TALES OF HARMATTAN

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That perfect orange,
Haloed by a lighter shade

At half past 4
Till barely 6

Roaming the skies
Overlooking the smouldering savanna

Downed powerlines
The corruption of wooden electric poles, charcoal

Listen to the tinder
Dry shrubs

Listen to the
Thirsty trees

Dry grass in tears
The planting season has passed away

Dust in flight
Across the plains

Married to shoes
And parched soles

Listen to blind lanterns
Listen to parched lips

Listen to the dry land
Listen to tales of sands

Rain clouds eaten
Alive in their mother’s womb

Tales told by empty spaces
A constipated sky

Cemeteries of cornfields and
Cowpea litter the earth


Farmlands lost in dreams of
harvests gone by


A healthy helping of coughs cold
Itchy eyes and runny noses


Double bolted rabbit holes
And still-borne watering holes

Cows barter water
With buckets of milk

Barns and silos
Imprison grain

Hush….
Listen….
Listen…..
Shhhhhhh……
Just you listen,
These are the tales of harmattan

YOU AND ME

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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

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.

LIKE NOTHING......

LIKE NOTHING.....




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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


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INTO THE SUNSET

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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.

FAITH IN A VOICE

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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.

PORTRAITS OF PASSION

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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

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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.

UNDRESSED WORDS

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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.

THE PATIENCE OF TRAGEDY

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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.

THE TRUTH

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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.

HOW LONG IS FOREVER

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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?

DUST BEFORE WIND

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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.

PAGES OF A BLANK SCRIPT

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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.