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POETRY

KARMA, PLEASE LISTEN

In many a man’s eyesWomen are the kitchen handsThe baby-making-machinesThe footmatsThe housemaidsThe pleasure potsThe punching bags which hold still no matter how hard the punchesAnd if they crackThey’re easily replaced IIIn many a man’s eyesWomen are to be seen and not heardPlayed with but not laughed withThey are shadows never to be seen in their […]

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POETRY

MOTHERS IN LOVING SHADES

OBI didn’t know where I was when I came to beThere were many things I did not seeDarkness surrounded me in what seems like a big colourless seaStill, I lived and swam till I reached the dock of the seaThen I realized I had a voiceAnd spectators who celebrated upon hearing my voiceBefore then, I […]

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POETRY

The Loud Applause – For Mr. Eric Borti

Felicitations are in orderFor your skilled handling of all the occupational botherYour dedication in educationHas brought us to this occasionSo sit well, and receive your standing ovation IIFor 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 […]

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POETRY

THE MAD PEOPLE IN CLEAN CLOTHES

Before you marryBe sure of what you’re likely to on your life’s head carryFor there are many men walking in clothes so cleanWith minds which are very lean IIBefore you say “I do”Make sure you know your booSome relationships thrive on many a tabooAnd might end up killing you IIIAll the trigger you need is […]

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POETRY

CHICKEN AND EAGLE

I can’t get why he was given the privilegeWhiles hers is considered a sacrilegeI can’t believe how much he was coddledAnd how hard she is being heckledI thought women’s hearts weren’t sticksFor a woman’s heart to quietly take thorny pricksAre the hearts of men humanely realAnd the hearts we wield not a big deal?I need […]

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POETRY

THE NEVER ENDING BATTLES

The battles of this stageLike a weary war, just cause rageImagine humans battling with ageSome acting like many a cactus, using their wages to win a superior pageSome acting like gods using their gender for a superior stageSome acting like creative artists to use their skin colour to their advantageSome acting like poor pious pricky […]

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POETRY

DAMAGED

Just as we walk from the known…to the unknownWe choose our partners from the traits we know…out of the many potentials we don’t know IISo imagine a fatherless girl choosing from different choicesConsider the paths she’ll choose from the many voices!Elders will appeal to herAbusers will scare her to succumb, making her think it’s fairAs […]

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POETRY

LOST CAUSE

I swore I’d send him to jailAnd make sure he gets no bailFor payments he did failBut the moment he walked in and touched meWords did fail to beMouth on me begged against mind’s pleasAs he got me on my kneesHow I always get here with him, I know notBut it is a battle I’ve […]

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DISASTERS

When disasters walk on legs of surprisesAs many are tied by pain, disdain, wounds, deaths in crisesAnd help from above is held by disappointmentAs people who have lost people become the appointed…aid, looking for whom to save on empty stomachsIt is a sign that a country is on its death bed IIFor how can there […]

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POETRY

AFƆRIFIE

Nea otumi da yie…ɛnɛ ahohiahia yi mu no, na ɔwɔ bayieEfirisɛ firi animdefo kosi abrɛfo so no, biribiara nkɔ yie… mpo na sika papabi aba fieEno nti na akoma ne adwene ne ano nkitaho nkɔ yie…mpo na aso anya fawohodie atie B.Enti yɛ ahwɛyieMma w’ano ntra yɛfunupanEfirisɛ worentumi nsoa ne tanMma w’ani nkan nsapanEfirisɛ worentumi […]

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POETRY

WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?

You ask meYou ask me where our love wentForgetting it turned into many little birdsEach flying out with your traits IIOne flew out on the wings of your unanswerable calls…with no tangible reasonsAnother flew out through the windows of inadequate care on my birthdayAnother flew out of the door of your insensitivityWhen you left me […]

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POETRY

A SORROWFUL SATURDAY (For Christian Atsu)

We were meant to believe God wakes…and takesWe sat and wished you will be found…not boundOnto a plane like cargo and shipped downNow you’re the sad talk of the town IIMany said you deserved to liveBecause of the way you giveMany said your life will be a miracle…for nothing can hold your shine, not even […]

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A SIMPLE PRINCIPLE

I’ll never be the stone hurled in a fight…which to me is unknown I’ll never be the bone curled to smite…a throat which to me is unknownI’ll never be the sword used to slay…a neck unknownI’ll never be the bullet used to lay…down a life unknown Make me your bat to kill an unknownAnd I’ll […]

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DRAGGED

There is one of me I knowBut many of me than I wish to knowI try to live in a simple selfBut many drag me like a magical elfWhy?Just why? IISee me see troubleI live in a hot bubbleSome acquaintances call me childlessAnd see themselves as board members giving advices so endless“Why don’t you give […]

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POETRY

KWAJO SIMPAH NHYƐ ME ABUFUO

Woretu me mu tokroƐregya me ɔdɔ koroNa w’asan de adwumasuru asom me surusurusuru agya me suroDe mma du adua me ahokyerɛ kuroA wo mma me kaprɛ mpo na w’ama me aburoKwajo Simpah, nhyɛ me abufuo B.Wo de ɔhaw ahyɛ me kabaDe ahokyerɛ ahyɛ me sliitiWo de ɔbrɛ abɔ me dukuAsan nso de ɛkɔm ahyɛ me […]

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POETRY

LABOUR INTENSIVE

Whatever the meaning of adults being children before seeing the kingdom of GodI really need to know before serving GodWhat is it about children?They whose only currency is adorability which can’t buy zilchYet are filled with seeds of tiredness they sow in hands which tend to their wake to their belch…right to their sleepThey who […]

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2023

Just as old skin peels for newLet many blessings replace the fewLet every tear cancel a fearMay more joy scatter many a plotless ployMay high honours destroy every damning dishonourAs cherished cheers uproot all living leers IIMay the force of hardwork destroy all foundations of procrastinationEvery heartbreak turn loam to grow successEvery tongue learn to […]

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POETRY

JUST TODAY

I was the rude woman who readied red eyes for a naughty manJust TodayI was the busy business woman who held a pen and held a bendJust todayI was the religious mother, calling on goodness to bless her kidJust todayI was the most patient of teachers listening to questions without a flinchJust todayI was the […]

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POETRY

THE TAKER STORY

He took it from the groundIt was shiny, looked worthy and home boundHe cleaned the tiny dirt off itAnd made all chasing it think it was a hitSo they celebratorily cheered him for winning and forgot about itHe took it home and realized it wasn’t fit, for anythingSo he started to neglect itAnd eventually regarded […]

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POETRY

WO TE PUUPUU A

Ɔmaa no ɛdanƐna ɔbɔɔ no ho banƆmaa no ɛhyɛnSiesie no ma no nyaa nsroma hyerɛnƆshɛɛ no dwaDe ahotɔ sii akongwa pa ma no yɛɛ n’agwaƆtoo no pono wɔ n’atanfo adwabɔ kɛse ponotireMaa anibere hyɛɛ n’atanfo mfifireNso no nyinaa akyire yi noƆde mpamu yareɛ kɔdiawuo yi bi sanii noNti wɔ wo fufuo di Na puupuu no […]

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POETRY

A WORLD OF BLAME

The world is a big ball of blameBecause wierd things get the utmost fameImagine people acting as demons and hating on others because we’re not the sameImagine people acting weapons to hurt others and thinking it a gameImagine people acting as animals to bully others and thinking that they “came”…to the table of the “lame”Deemed […]

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POETRY

AKRƆNFO NE WƆN NAMFO

Ampa sɛ ɛmoa a wɔn takra sɛ tu mmrɛ krɔEfirisɛ ɛkameayɛsɛ wo nyɛ ɔkrɔnfoɔ a wonni namfoɔƆbarima teneneeni bi tenaaseƆyɛɛ n’adwene sɛ ɔnni bɔneEnti n’abaanguaso no, w’angye adaamude biaraEbi yɛɛ wɔn ho nguan kɔ sɔɔ no hwɛɛ yɛEbi yɛɛ wɔn ho gyata kɔ hunahuna noEnso ogyinaa pintiin tesɛ onyina…a ɛnsɔhwɛ biara aammɔ no anhwe hɔ […]

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POETRY

GOD IN WRONG PLACES

Is beginning becoming an endAnd an end becoming a beginning?I ask because mouths can’t seem to defend…things eyes are seeingAs many evils contend…with piety without meaning IIWhy am I seeing God on faces of fornication?Why is God in the cries of many a corruption?Why is God sitting on thrones of thieves?Why is God the spice […]

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POETRY

SIKANI NE OKUANI

Mmere bi a atwamuWɔ Amansie AbibiremuOkuani bi kɔɔ osikani bi hɔ kɔpɛɛ mmoaOsikani no hwɛɛ no dinn frɛ no nnipa mu aboaSan ka kyerɛ no sɛ w’ayɛ te sɛ nnipa mu kɔntoaA ohia adane ahama akyekyere ne kɔnEnti ontumi nfa ne sika a w’awidare ne mogya ani apɛMma no efirisɛ onim sɛ ontumi ntua IINa […]

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POETRY

THE WHITE WOMAN HE CRAVED

Kwaku Fosu always said he wanted to marry a white womanHe did say he disliked everything about a black womanHe who was brought up like a fowl being rearedHe who roared even in conversations and was sorely feared…by all IIKwaku Fosu did meet a nice white womanAnd worshipped her in front of every black womanMaking […]

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YENOM

A. II buy the cars…and gain fame in barsI can be in jarsAnd cause traumas with warsII can change paupers with swagsAnd break relationships with nagsI am who I am with ‘n’ as my middle letterYou can peg me with a niddle, I betBut I don’t break any sweatI can suffer depending on my punisher […]

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WHERE ARE THE VIRGINS?

You stand at the crossroads of middle age and old ageAsking questions not meant for a sageThinking the one you’re searching for is in a cageMeant to be opened by a godly adage on a sacred stage You know the answer that can turn your page II‘Where are the virgins?’ You askThey are frozen in […]

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I HAVE SUFFERED

I have sufferedI have suffered from exploits and horrid huntingHuman hunters have haunted and hunted my humansTo a point where it was dauntingFunny how their ends have turned my beings to love their earnsRunning into their slave ships with their own legs III have sufferedI have suffered from heads heading as tailsParading many failsAnd splashing […]

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SHORT STORIES

So Unfair (Cedi-dollar War) Episode 3

My salary is 400 cedis a month. I used to pay four Ghana cedis to and from work every day, but now I pay ten cedis on a normal day, and fifteen cedis on a busy day when troskis decide to ply through short distances. Yes, they will say from Number 5 to Abeka, then […]

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POETRY

ƆKRAMAN AHOBRASEƐ

Kotodwe biara a egu fɔm nɛ wɔ daakye ahomasoEnti susu bɔ ɔkraman ahobraseɛ abasoNa animguaseɛ ankɔ guare wo wɔ akagyinamu dan akyi B.Ɛnɛ anobrɛbrɛ wɔ daakye atiatiaEnti susu gyegye onibie ti na twa kyɛwpa so tiatiaNa w’ankɔhwiri gyideɛ a ɔmanfoɔ wɔ wɔ wo mu D.Efirisɛ nnipa bɛtumi ayi n’ani ato wo tuo te sɛ ɔbɔmɔfoɔAma […]

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Dollar Ne Sedi Ntɔkwa (Akan Nwoma a Ɛtɔso Mmienu)

Mpayinbɛ ɛbɛ, “Obonto nfa ne ho mmɔ nkawa” nti na m’asonsɔn me ho saa de abɔ m’abrabɔ bɛ si nnɛ a, m’ahunu sɛ ɛntumi ntintam yi. Me bɔɔ mmɔden buei akasa anoma sikakura ne tua bea a abrɔfo frɛ no spase to spase yi bi wɔ Mmepɔ so. Ababaawa a meretena me ho ase na […]

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A Scary Place to Live (Ghana) The Cedi-Dollar War – Episode 2

You ask me why he is like this? My husband has never been like this. He has always been energetic, responsible and so full of life. When I met him, he was a high school teacher making barely two thousand cedis a month. I watched him rise through poverty to our current state, well former […]

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Dollar ne Sedis Ntɔkwa (Akan Nnwoma a Edikan)

Ɔdɔ, hwɛ me sutɔɔr yi mu, ayɛ brɛhwaa te sɛ akumkum akumkum kwan so. Bisa me sɛ adɛn? Onua, efiri Kolona o sɛ Kovil o sɛ deɛn mmerɛ so no, me ne sika da hɔ mpo na m’akonya bi de atotɔ nnuɔma abɛgu me sutɔɔr yi mu. Enti adomfoɔ a na me di dwa wɔ […]

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Stripped and Flogged- The Cedi-Dollar War Episode 1

I was doing well as a fried yam, turkey tail, chicken and sausage seller. I had a beautiful table, a big sieve and some benches and tables for customers to sit and enjoy their meals. I was neat and hardworking so my customers loved me very much, until I fell ill during the Covid era. […]

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POETRY

PAUPERING PERKS

Preaching-for-pesewa poor people please payersPaving paths for plushy preyersPinning points for pitying and pushingPulling planks for pieces of papersPerks push peace around paupering parksAnd ply paces with petty pistols of punishmentsPlanting power like plaintainPushing pain, replacing gain…in plush generational pinchesAmoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © October 27, 2022

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STOP AT THE RIGHT STATION

I. We must learn to park the vehicle of our responsibilityAt hard work’s respected stationSo we can avoid the cringy situationOf anger turning humans into lions to hunt our stability IISometimes we take responsibility …for failures falling far from our fencesSo the light of our good works can be our lenses…to help our sights drive […]

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THE VAGINA HAS NO MARKET AGAIN

Sometimes, many old and wise mouths, have the most crude adviceSometimes being crude is a great deviceTo save saints sadly sinking into sillinessAnd so she told her to her faceTo work herself to a future happinessAs the vagina has no market again in this place IIShe was twerking like an alikotoBelieving in a fairytale so […]

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ODOMANKOMAH PLEASE LISTEN

A.Odomankomah, please listenI am sitting here clothed by darknessMy mind naked on the streets of needAsking if I can succeedLike a seed on droughted landIn these times when the cedi is falling…like a blind man into a hollow holeAs my income dwarfs against this gigantic economy B. Abohunu Abobirim, please listenNeeds slap me like a […]

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THE GENDER FEUD

A. Ama says a man has no right…to a woman’s body let alone tell her how many kids to haveHe certainly has no rightSince a woman’s body is hers to loveThis caused a huge fight B. Kwaku says a man must have a sayAnd a woman must surely obeyIn giving birth to children a man […]

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A WOMANIZER’S HEADACHE

A womanizer is like the chased fatherWho can neither rest nor sleep around his teensFor he knows the trash others like him holdIn pursuance of his spermal goldHe even misses those who are God-fearing and boldThinking all, like him, hold the womanizing genes so cold IIAnd so they bark when their teens leave homeThey roar […]

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KARMA’S DISCRIMINATION

A snake might love the taste of its tailUntil it gets to its headIt might love the flutter of its hailUntil it feels the bite closer to its head IISo you snakes, go on and chewThinking this nation belongs to you fewWhen our sky droughts of its dewAnd the land loses its resourceful hewDo not […]

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LET A WOMAN TELL YOU

Let a woman tell you how to love herListen not to the chaff others shareLet a woman tell you how to love herAnd you’ll find one who will be so dear IIA man can never tell you what is in the heart of a womanAnother woman ‘may’ be able to tell you what is in […]

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NARCIBANDS

He said I am not opening a mini storeTo be given a thousand and four…hundred a monthWhen I am also paid every month IIHe said I should live by my salarySo my husband can build with his salaryTo give me and mine a place to liveWhile emphasising his freedom to leave IIIHe said a man […]

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GHANA ASAASE SO ABOFUNU

Ɛgya nnim ɛsrɛ mu nsronsronyɛƐnso asaase di ɛhyiɛ akyi afura mfa-me-ho ntamaSɛ aniwa hwɛ apueyɛ kosi atɔyɛNa adwen de aniwa sini dane sumyɛ aNa ɔhaw adane ekuro retutu honompa ani B.Teaseɛnam kwan bɔne nnim Asantenfoɔ ne Ntafoɔ mu nsrosroyɛNanso amanyɔfoɔ de akwanyɛ adane tomamenyɔNtomtom nnim sikani ne ohiani mu nsronsronyɛNso asiesie mpanyinfoɔ ati ada…ama ntomtom […]

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KOKROMOTI TUMI

Anomaa bi su sɛ da bio bioEnti ani na ɛbɛhwɛ na ano nka bioSuban tantan a akantan w’akoma so ama wo di atwitaan tumi, Aso brakyiɛ a ɛbutu afutuo biara efisɛ wo di tumi, Ɛbɛtukwan akosi wo srɛ mrɛ soƐhɔ na kokromoti bɛkyerɛ wo ne akɛsifo tumiDe ahwan wo to de ahwi animguaseɛ boɔ soAmoafowaa […]

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THE APPLAUSE OF LOSS

AI,…am the boss…will you toss…and be your cross B.I,…am your floss…will show you gross…and be your loss C.I,…am your applause…will create your laws…and give your clause D.So know your stanceIn your circumstanceDon’t be askanceAnd lose your danceFor I am Public Opinion; your downfall and your chanceAmoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © September 28, 2022

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OPEN PALMS

Open palms have nothing to hideSo it fears not the chide of a hard rideAnd sits relaxed in horror mark tides IISo let vultures wait on carcassesAs lions feed on the weak massesLet woodpeckers dig into innocent treesAs strays steal honey of hardworking beesLet dogs bark off the unknownAs the powerful see to the unconforming’s […]

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THE THOUGHTLESS GOAT

Once upon a time in OwuruponThere lived a vast and beautiful NsuponWho loved all who toured herAnd protected those who respected herHer caretaker, Nightingale, tutored all on not stepping on her bad sideBut Goat, who wanted to be the caretaker failed to abide IIGoat waited to contest the yearly electionAnd lost due to lack of […]

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WE’RE NOT OUR MOTHERS

Times when women were ragsSat and cried as many a man bragsLived in duress for societal dragsFeared the words “not submissive” and hagsHave long passedWe’re not our mothers IITimes when a man could deny his seedTravel and live as a woman painfully feeds his seedWait for time to bring elders to help him pleadTurn on […]

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KAPRƐ

Me deɛ me nni kaprɛ…na m’anya nsatofrɛEnti m’ani na me de me rehwɛ…mmofra a mpanyin bɔne ɛregoro wɔn te sɛ atoprɛ BMe deɛ me nni kaprɛ…na y’agye m’enkyerɛkyerɛEnti m’ani hann na me de rehwɛAdehyeɛ a wɔn ɛrepri nkoa dibrɛ D.Ei me wɔ kaprɛ…na y’agye m’adwenkyerɛ?Enti me yɛ dɛn kɔ tia nkoa a wɔn rekyekyɛ…adehyeɛ agyapadeɛ? […]