The Loud Applause – For Mr. Eric Borti

Felicitations are in order
For your skilled handling of all the occupational bother
Your dedication in education
Has brought us to this occasion
So sit well, and receive your standing ovation

II
For all the umpteen times you dotted the letter “i”,
For all the million times you crossed the letter ‘t’,
For all the zillion times you corrected “loss” to “lose”,
For all the vocabulary accidents you healed in oral and homographic surgery,
For all the unreadable essays you sanitized with your red ink,
For all the abominable summaries you helped to make sense,
For all the raining mistakes your ears did drink
For all the truants your punishments corrected and shaped,
For all the tight tongues your affable nature let loose,
For all the many programmes you helped to host
For all the high committees you helped to reign
Three decades is no joke in service
You deserve a long and loud applause.

III
You have burnt your best woods
And turned into fire ash which is alive to heat our knowledge foods.
You’re now like the sky which only rains
When the sea calls to fill its core and clear its drains
You’re now the English library
Built by years of experience and service.
You’re the gem we now wield in our thought-provoking guns
Set to heal the crevices of our hidden ignorance.
It’d be an abomination to be known and seen by the writing goddess
And go down the gutters of oblivion
You’re a Ghanaian English star
Who has raised grammatical, composition and literary bars
And diffused the confusion in comprehension through loving oral intervention
Ayekoo!
Yɛ ma wo amo!
Congratulations for a great service
…in this world of many a disservice
Now rest and mentor
And enjoy our utmost reverence
…till we join you on the table of veterans
In cheers for a job well done
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © May 6, 2023