Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Let Peace Be

When nightmares of our virulent past-
sharp knives of discord-
threaten to sever our bonds of unity,
when wars and strife
greet from the left and the right,
do not cave in, brother;
hold fast to the things that keep hope alive.
Let peace be,
let it be.

Let peace be
lo, let it be
still as the calm waters of Bosomtwi,
unperturbed as a graceful princess in her beauty sleep.
Do not stir.
Stoke no fire with your wild thoughts,
cooking strange tales of things unperceived.
Restrain yourself
from adding fuels of emotional prejudice to the destroyers’ fire,
burning our aspirations to ashes!
Be bold to quench the raging infernos stoked by single stories
and save tomorrow’s golden dreams.


Let peace be,
Please let it be!
Resist their plans to make you
the purveyor of the social gangrene.
Don’t spill out the unguarded words they feed you with
 to fester sour wounds of the dark days much like septic needles,
multiplying our pain and heightening our wail.

Yea, let us slow down on the divisive acts
that plunge Africa into perpetual wahala
and amplify the sisters’ tears many fold.
Stop acting like it’s only your brother who needs food,
let the people have their bread too
lest their fury burst like a volcanic earthquake
to smash all we’ve built over the years,
setting us back to the stone age.

Surely, it must be no complex puzzle to pursue peace
From day one nature bestowed it on us
as imprinted in our DNA .
Make no mistake about this: fairness is the key,
we can only have peace when we
Provide Equal Access to the Country’s Economy
Let it be!
Let peace be!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

BOOK SYNOPSIS: TALES FROM DIFFERENT TAILS, BY NANA AWERE DAMOAH




Nana Awere Damoah, an engineer and writer, is someone I admire and look up to a lot. He is about to launch his third book titled Tails from Different Tails. Read a short synopsis of what to expect from the book:

Everyone has a price and… their broom. You either name the price or find the broom that sweeps them off their feet!

October Rush
The new academic year has started and school is under siege. Reason? ‘October Rush’. Heads keep turning as students struggle to juggle academic work with relationship wahala. The freshers are tagged New Stock, sophomores as Reduce to Clear while final years are Buy One Get On Free. Follow ‘October Rush’ as it tells the intricate story of University romance. For some, it is learning the ropes, for others it is a do or die affair. Find your feet in this hot, intense, and pacey affair. The Rush is on!

Truth Floats
It is true that the one who you save the bullet for might be the one pulling the trigger. So the story goes that Kweku Ananse took the meat right out of his bosom friend, Akoto’s, mouth when he stole Ama Adoma from him. But it is also true that when they lie they will lie again because the deception never end. Amidst the lies and disloyalty truth comes to light like a calabash that has been forced in water. All said and done, did Ama fall for Kweku? How did Akoto find out about his fiancĂ©, Ama’s, true love for him? This story teaches the values of patience, perseverance and love in the face of lies.

Dribble de Zagidibogidi
Vengeance is of God but can the human mind truly forgive and forget? Zagidibogidi (Randy) is accused of brutally raping Rose, the only lady he would catch the moon for. As things turn out, Rose is the only one who could save him from going to jail. Wicked twist? Rose has fallen into coma. But help comes from strange places. Babyface, Randy’s lawyer, vowed to do his best to prove his client’s innocence. Will justice be denied by it being delayed? Could there be some unfinished business with Babyface on Get Even Day? Revenge must be sweet when served cold and slowly…it is payback time! Yes, a broken mirror can be patched but the crack will forever be there.

Hope Undeferred
The elders say women are supposed to sell garden eggs not gun powder. But Araba’s heart aches for Kwesi. What risks can a young lady take in making her love known to the man she loves? Should she go ahead and propose love? For the most haunted spinster in Assin Kabrofo, it is only a matter of time before she loses heartthrob Kwesi. This unwritten law in African setting is eating away this beautiful village queen. But do African gods condone breaking gender ranks? Hope can only be held onto with hands and feet. And with prayer that it is not dashed to pieces as pottery on the rocks that line the banks of River Ankobra.

Kojo Nkrabeah
The only stories villagers hear of the city is that of glamour with streets paved with gold, money hanging on trees and the taps overflowing with milk and honey. This story shatters the dream of city life for Kojo Nkrabeah and Akwasi Poku. Akilipee has come to Moseaso from the city with well embellished stories. These stories lured the orphaned Kojo Nkrabeah and his friend, Akwasi Poku. In their haste to escape their mundane village lives, they learn the hard way where the grass is green. This is not your ordinary village-to-city story but one that immerses the reader into the best of both worlds.

Guardian of the Rented Well
Akos is a married woman who wants her book published. Benson wants everything in skirt. How does he draw the line between pleasure with this taken lady and the business at hand? This story shows the resolve of married women and the extent to which they go to show or betray love and trust.

Was it Akos who coveted Benson to get her way? Or it was Benson who risked his life guarding the rented well. What has all this got to do with Lieutenant Patrick Atiemo? Something has to give, but what? Follow this maze of a crazy love affair gone terribly wrong …

Face to Face – Trotro Palaver
If you have not taken a trotro, aka troski in Ghana, then either you are not a Ghanaian or haven’t visited Ghana. The ordinary man’s means of transportation in Ghana comes with lots of hustle and drama. The tight seating arrangements, the conversations, the potpourri of smells the laughter, gossips, the political debates as well as the twists, turns and trickery to outwit the police. This adventure brings you face to face as we take a short winding yet hilarious ride in the old Morris troski, with registration number ABC 4037. Join Akwasi the aplanke (drivers mate) who holds a PhD in cunning, slippery mathematics and his master, Massa Kojo, the man who uses a toothpick in his mouth like a ceiling brush, as they drive us from Pig Farm to Circle.... vroooooommmmmm.......Away bus!

Project Akoma
When the heart decides, it is the mind that plans. A message sent to the mind simply reads: “I have found my desire—my missing rib,” and sets the brain in motion. Stories of human love always go with sorrow, joy, deceit, unfailing dedication and jealousy. To win the heart of this striking beauty of eve’s daughter, he must climb the seven skies and back, he must scale the China wall to profess love and win her heart. A moving rollercoaster of a love story which takes readers through the steps to win Adjoa’s heart. This was so delicate and complicated it had to be handled like a final year project work on a University campus. Was this another happily ever after tale or a masterpiece of storytelling with sting at the very end?


Tales from Different Tails will be launched on 1 December 2011 at the Teacher's Hall Complex near Workers' College and Tigo Headoffice, Adabraka, Accra, at 6pm. This is Nana Awere Damoah's third book, the first two being Excursions in My Mind (2008) and Through the Gates of Thought (2010).

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Kpokakpoka

Many moons have gone by
Since I meant to start a revolution
A clarion call to action
A youth propelled movement that'll gain traction
Together we'll fire
Mental shots of change and progress
To herald the start of a new dawn
Just listen to the sound kpoka! Again? kpoka!

Chase the cheaters and the eaters
Who're like barriers in the path of the cheetahs
Stalling progress with their tethers
But with ricocheting shots
Shots of mental action emanating from thought
We reverse the age of retrogression
Here we go kpoka! Louder KPOKA!

The scourge of dis-ease
Plaguing the people of the nation
Sapping energy, reducing productivity
Let's end its menacing reign
Bring the mental weapon into action: kpoka!

There goes poverty too
That wicked depressor
Notorious for killing dreams thus engendering social ills
Break down its dominating prison
With bullets of determination
Loaded in our mental gun
Fire kpoka! fire kpoka!

Though thieves and robbers who raid the streets at night
wield massive weapons of power
We'll shake not, we'll hold our shores
Ours is the super weapon of resistance
That'll scatter theirs into smithereens!
Hehehe kpoka! kpoka! Haha kpoka!

Against illiteracy and ignorance, kpoka!
Against corruption and poor governance, kpoka!
Against sloth and laziness, kpoka!
Against filth and poor sanitation, kpoka!
Herald the new dawn of youthful thoughts of resistance
Metamorphosing into action and improvement
Change Africa, kill the backwardness
Kpoka! Kpoka kpoka!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Rising Cheetahs





Inspired by TEDxYouthInspire


Here comes Africa's new breed
Who're offsprings of the planted seed
The youthful ones who'll clear every need
Through the knowledge they get from the books they read
To Zion our people they shall surely lead
And ensure that the masses are truly freed

They're the ones when bogged down
And suppressed with thoughts of gloom
Just spread out their mighty wings and take flight
Take flight on wings of attitude powered by determination

I smile when I think of you
My heart glows when I hear your voices
And when I see you my face shines
For you have become the joy of my life
In the midst of this hostile weather you're the refreshing breath of air
Like a rose your words are fresh and scented and inspiring!

For you make me dare to dream
That love my hands could dare reach
Though we may not be rich
True joy for the land you do preach

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

My Dance

In the middle of the winter moments in Africa

The bridge which connected the East coast

To the West beaches came down

And with it the little dwarfs that had made

The bridge their home.

Forever came to an end

And Dreams never got a chance to start

Love was wiped from the menu in the snow

Soon came the wind that had prophesied it.

It was surely to be the last dance