I go from hand to hand A cuff and a band A sit and a stand I keep on walking And running I keep on flying And breaking I keep on singing And laughing Crying is like salt dipped in my blood for cleansing So I cleanse II Chai! I cause some headaches And toothaches […]
When I turn cold I know you hurt But I hurt in ten-fold And I need an outlet II When I turn cold I know you fret But to you I am sold As you cuddle a safe bet III I am bold I need, to strength, get I need a hold Or I will […]
When I said I loved I was like a caught bird Under heated water in the saucepan of society Being cooked for being alone Now that I see a hole in the pan I see my true heart and I am sorry II When I said I loved I was like a lone soul Deserted […]
Abena says Kwaku Bonsam is a liar He feeds on lies And hoards them in his bloated belly He needs mere friends as brothers and cousins He needs his ugly face as handsome He needs his piggy beddy bounces As the best ride on a smooth road II Bonsam says Abena feeds fat on lies […]
I hear sounds Dancing like dew all around I feel bounds Crying like attention seekers, to be found And I am astonished II I feel fear Gathering, like seas, much tears I feel cheer Taunting, like pain, all the queers And I am perplexed III I smell conflicts Ready, like doped soldiers, to conflict I […]
I am sometimes in a semi-circle But the faces are not familiar You aren’t there I turn to the freedom chasers They see me like a meaty rat So give me the hot chase Unfortunately, all welcoming holes hoard smokes And heat whose fore-fingers point at me in a warning So I run on Crying […]
I am one But I can’t believe I am Because I feel my pulse I feel my breath And my skin spits As pain floods my eyes So I am one But I don’t feel one Cars are racing And I feel like three I see I hear And I feel The breezes are blowing […]
If you promise to be a horse You’ve got to have speed Most importantly, stamina To carry and ride harder Like a true knight Fearless and apt in promises II If you promise to be an eagle You’ve got to have strength Most importantly, fierceness To carry and ride harder Making sure need fears my […]
Peaches! Poor Paul has turned pest Easy to hear “tiaaan, chtian!” around him Doped in smell of all that sickens and kills Sickening and killing humans like flies Is he a walking corpse? II He knows not he is a repellent So explores all “nosedoms” “Agyawaadwo!” I would be a swinging monkey Around his chasing […]
Players play like porters use clay Forming, watering, playing and wasting Eventually messing up everywhere Like kids in dangerous games Sometimes harming themselves Sometimes shaming themselves Most times incurring the wrath of their carers All in their initiation of fun II Lovers are like roses They open wounds and show Admitting they will take all […]
Some call me a worm Some call me a poor pet Others call me an unbaked yam But I am the bread winner of my home II With opened mouths of 7 Waiting for the manna from my sweat I am like their goddess of harvest I am like the air they breathe I am […]
She says she wants a perm Then she changes her mind She wants a jelly Her friends laughed at her She wants corn roll Her face taunts her She wants rasta II Long rasta is not faster She wants the short huge ones After completion she looks into the mirror and screams What a horror!!! […]
Sunshine in a frowning sky Gentle lightening in an angry storm Ice in an unbearable heat You, you II The best song on the biggest stage The best feet in a dancing bout The moon in a rebellious sky You, you III Your fingers hold my soothing balm Your mouth hold my living breath Your […]
I am a virgin Although I have mothered a child I don’t want to compare myself to Mother Mary But if the woman had other children With dear daddy Joseph And still has the title of a virgin Even after moth and others have finished her temple Why can’t I be a virgin too? II […]
I am traveling I know I have traveled I am traveling To an unknown destination But I know this step today Takes me nearer II I have seen hurdles I have seen pain I have seen lions Like a hunter, I have battled their wounds on my skin I have housed scars which never fail […]
He has risen He has risen to many cherry bosoms Making sales on street beds In the mouth of the Kwahu Mountain He has risen II He has risen He has risen to countless stinking pubs On many holy grounds He has risen III He has risen He has risen to bleached bodies On many […]
I wore no clothes But came to be worn by air Every visiting day asked me to shed And wear thoughts of the older And these thoughts keep getting colder Mamaa! I only need a smooth sail Why must I wear a whipping tail? Papaa! Like one you knew existed, Couldn’t you have kept me […]
Poetry, is fast gaining roots in Ghana, and as such, there are modern poets who are helping give it a boost in the entertainment industry. I must commend the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) for helping its members gain the recognition they need. Being what many call a prolific writer, I started writing poetry when […]
EPILOGUE: When wisdom fills the old calabash, It overflows and seeps in The sun dries it to be stronger That way it lasts with experience So was the calabash of Atanga’s Granpa On his very dying bed He called Atanga to his bed And had his last stream flow to him GRANDPA: My dear Atanga, […]
Kwaku, if we go back To the beginning of time And I pick my great sack And follow as you pluck And I pick them fruits Until I can no longer hold the sack And you help me home With a big smile Wouldn’t love feel original? […]
I Arm in arm Let’s move like we swam In the rivers of beautiful but challenging Cupid Ignoring many comments like “They are stupid, Leave them be, Later they’ll see, That feeling is foolishness” II Arm in arm Let’s move like swans And step into old age’s jacuzzi Swimming as we smile and look back […]
We In the arms of armoured earth Protective of us Fight with race Fight with gender Fight with geography Fight with ethnicity And fight for what we can’t forever own II When we Crossing over into soil Take nothing but our beings Our skin being butchered by moth Our bones being powdered by age and […]
I How pretty The budding smile Of the new born beautiful flower Which feels the air And sees the sun, Tastes the rain And hears the humming of thunder II Oh how beautiful It sways in youth As all do look Her way more than once Dazers gaze for long As it dances to show […]
He’s frail And death’s quail But deserves a hail For standing on three legs after a fail Of life’s success jail II None knows his fears None can count his tears None thinks of his years None knows how he all bears It seems none cares III He may have been treated fair Or not […]
I The child in me Peeps to see The adult I am And helps me see What I’m missing II I’d like to play around And make all the healthy sounds I’d like to throw tantrums And sit on the filthy ground… Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) 2014
The peace and serenity That was with my completeness Fled into the arms of the savage Who squashed and swallowed it whole The moment my guard was down And the holder of my emotion took charge Now I am in need Of that peace and innocence […]
Future filth Stop the frown Straighten up And be around Your time is now When you can ask how When your time stops There’ll be no sound So future filth Don’t act like gold You will get old And can’t be sold Your buyers will pay For you to be hidden from […]
In the light Of this fight We find the sight In an insight And lose our might Like a kite We fascinate in light In God’s sight As our colour bright No matter our height But there is our night Which brings our plight And turns all things right On this site Into […]
The tree stands in glamour Attracting birds Attracting bees Attracting monkeys Attracting snakes Attracting eyes And singing hymns None cares About the fallen leaves Which was high above And has served its time They step on them, hailing the new And ignoring their pain Although their work is not done Like an unwanted […]
Amidst the pain And all the gain Amidst the storms And the beautiful suns Amidst the rough roads And the smooth ones Amidst the love And all the hate I’ll never change a thing Because each thing had its bearing on the me today Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) 2014
She’s like sapphire Transparent in feelings, She blabbers about her dearest Embracing her absence And wearing her yearnings like a beautiful gown I feel I’m watching a weird movie I live like her, if not more occupied So why does she try to taunt me with names? Could it be her loneliness is more […]
Associators are interested in the past Money makers are interested in the future So I used to look back; Back to a place I could not hold And into the future; Looking into what I could never see And ended up in the same place, Juggling between two poses Past and future As time placed […]
Walls climbed walls At her order Pride joined beauty at her table, Made her an unmatched princess And froze her thoughts of age Inside a wall without an opening Age minded no frozen thoughts And walked through to his territory Taking hold of her skin like wild fire Making mirrors her enemies As […]
“When I call, I need you to fall” What? Talking to me? Like trees, we all have our thoughts Goats don’t know the difference Between their mothers and lovers If you ask me, I’ll tell you You’re no goat and I’m no mother of a goat Neither am I anything close to its […]
An ugly fixture Can be a god A horrible mixture Can be a cure In my worst I try my best To make me a god Once in a while Then like a peacock I spring back to life, Stretch my wings And let the world see The me which slept. Dear friend, […]
“What? To marry a Muslim man, I’d rather stay single or kill myself. It is not that I aim to label. I know the religion is fine. People who practice it without greed do great and live with mankind in harmony, but now, many are confusing religion with their barbaric cultures and use the literal meanings of quotations from the Bible or the Quran to push their selfish desires. It seems the Bible helped Christian women to be human by specifically saying one man to a woman, the idea of Muslims being asked to marry as many as four and love them equally, which is ridiculous because to me because no man can love four women equally, makes me fear getting into any of those traps. I also pity the women whose jealousies are cocked on their chest forever.
Oration of chastity Parading of nudity Inculcation of sincerity Akweley passed the test of “Sonimouni” No rice or corn ingestion She was bathed in a river with admonition Of family ties and connection By the gathering of all hands to eat “Ho fufui” Her hands were trained on the culinary Her skills, […]
This leaf is raddled Saddled by the reigns of ageing Ageing which happily flaunts its job To the fascination of time And takes ridiculing as its compliment This leaf is raddled Raddled though it is It has seen all shades of the sun; Mild, seductive, angry, angered, and frightening But none blinded it […]
Mum Cee