Valentine's Day Haiku

On Valentine's Day

I dream of Ghanaian chocolate

And your loving hug

How the youth got angry

First they snatched jobs from our parents hands,

sending hunger pangs running down our stomachs

Next they jumbled up school systems, switching syllabi on and off like their bedroom lights

The fields were left desolate, as poisoned water, condensed from their greed, descended from the skies

When they desecrated the holy temple of the most high,

all hell broke loose.

There Goes My Teacher

I

There goes my teacher,

The one who brought us up by hand,

His steps are as sure as Afadjato

And his movements as graceful as an eagle’s.

There he goes with his wonderful books

Smiling brightly and ready to serve.

II

There goes my teacher,

The mastermind,

His body beams radiant energy

And his mind floods with amazing knowledge.

There he goes, his chalk ever ready,

To the classroom

Where eager students await his impacting lessons.

III

There goes my teacher,

His ways much like the resolute farmer

Who patiently tends fertile and non-fertile soil alike.

He strives to enrich them with his wit and craft,

And plants the seeds that’ll surely bloom.

IV

There goes my teacher,

The skillful builder and master smith

Whose hardwork restores the nation’s hopes.

There he goes laying bricks of discipline

Bonded together with the mortar of correction.

His sweat truly forges us

Into men and women of integrity.

V

There goes my teacher,

The humble one, the suffering one

Whose back is as solid as a mountain

Never aching for a minute.

There he goes lowering himself like steps

In great sacrifice, while others climb to glory.

VI

There goes my teacher

The most disdained of all workers.

Yea, foolish youth call him “common chalk holder”

Yet his chalk builds their future,

Each stroke lays one more brick.

VII

There goes my teacher

Though great yet a beggar

He begs not for favour or for waiver

only for some of life’s little comforts:

a roof over the family’s head

good food to keep body and soul in one piece

good education for the children’s tomorrow

four wheels to get around with ease

smashing bright kente for Sunday service

a trip or two to cheer the family

and enough to put away against retirement.

My teacher demands not paradise, not even heaven

Just enough comfort to live here on earth

VIII

There goes my teacher,

My good old teacher

His graceful steps now eroded

by years of overwork and depressing pittance

Injustice now stares him blankly in the face

As the grave speedily beckons

There he goes full of the misery

That scares the young from ever holding chalk

Empty classrooms will soon foretell

The first signs of national gloom and doom

A first Haiku

The words dance to me
moving slowly with great grace
"Tender, beauty's here"

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!

Undesirable feeling

22^nd July, 2009

Around 11:00 pm

What's this feeling that is

Choking my emotion, distracting my attention

Fevering my body, holding my muscles

Creeping into my mind, dulling my senses

Quenching my passion, eroding my stamina

Stifling my thinking, fuelling my inactivity

Inducing my sleep, dipping my alertness

Engaging my procrastination, clipping my productivity

Dwindling my savings, boosting my poverty?