Deep in the Heat

It’s a harsh light,
This summer sun, baking the earth.

But why is autumn
Coming with a soft light, wit

h long shadows?

Sad to say, winter lights are cold

And blue, and we shiver with our teeth 

clapping like cymb

It’s only in spring-time
That we see a new light 

that’s bright with daffodils.

Do you also have the light 

of understanding
in your eyes? 

Give us this day our daily bread

Our Father, who art up there

You have given some folks life

And an easy breeze to blossom.

But some are struggling to escape slaving.

Why not fill their nerves with laughter,

Just for a while, as they’re still here?

You feed some with hope every bright day

And they taste their soul's desire in freedom,

And they come to flashing waters with smiles.

For some, on each dark night, at every hour, oh God,

They ebb and eke with life clinging to a stubborn will,

And they die beating their ways towards the rising sun.

Stranded between despair and the grave,

Many live with fronds of silence and hushed music,

waiting for miracles and crying for a revelation.

Oh God, I have faith in you though you left me lonely

in the world of struggles, but I hope to meet you

on Judgment Day to discuss the weary hungered child.

Meeting Him Riding in the Clouds

(for Agbonugla Kofi Awoonor)

His memory stares at me, dreamy and melancholic

On his head is a tiara adorning a charming face. 
He turns gently his head towards the gathering
A single tear fell from his tender daring eyes 

It carries the anguished burden of a world.
I bowed and saluted him and our eyes spoke.

With a nod he protested the muddle his father’s house

Why trained dogs bark to veil any cries of the people 
Why there are segregated benches in the lecture halls

Why they tortured and broke the legs of the innocent.
And he held up the sign: The Writing is on the Wall
Saying as he prayed: Soon this too shall pass

Before he left, he planted on me nature’s sweetest hug 

From the banks of the clouds the moon gazed at us

I welcomed the farewell, but I shuddered, I stuttered,

And the closer he gets, the further I fall sadly into the mist

Around my terror-stricken ears he whispered his last words

Then he went past into the twilight unseen beyond

* AGBONUGLA: Is an Ewe word for an elder statesman
   KOFI AWOONOR: One of Africa's leading poets, a novelist,
   a statesman who was murdered by the terrorist attack in the
   Kenyan Mall incident on September 21, 2013, Nairobi, Kenya

Hard Road

Sometimes, it is necessary 

for everything to flower from within;

and discover the gold and silver is the hurricane.

Sometimes, it’s self-blessing

to bitterly relearn a thing of its loveliness, 

that after nights of whirring rain, the earth is green again

Sometimes, it is necessary
to put a hand on the grimy brow and sigh

when you remember what made you once sad and cold.

The Jewel

This morning you and I are being toasted

In every alley of the village because you are mine. 
The day I met you was a wish come true for the women. 

Grandma says: your smile brings out the best in the village,
The women also say you are the greatest gift ever.
It’s the way you smile and laugh and show your love.

Ever since you came, the sky shows a new shade of blue. 
It is brighter, like the gods are revealing their feelings;
And we melt every day when we look into your eyes. 

With you we will make it through every thick and thin;
As long as you are with me like the pea is to the pod, 

Our heart will grow together to weather every storm.  

One thing do I ask of you: can you never say never;

Can you always be loving and kind, so gentle, and so sweet, 
And with you by my side, life will be simply complete.

The Presence

Your presence dissolved everything I was

and made me the object of love’s affections.

I remember looking in your eyes one day

and wondered how I can make it out to you?

I wasn't expecting to fall in love so easily.

All the same I gave myself to you completely

and there aren't regrets to make me weep.

Soon we were a pair to be admired in the alleys.

We had the kind of love told only in fairy tales.

I accepted you, and you embraced me.

The meeting itself was simple, but endearing.

When first I saw you behind the mud-house,

you looked so elegant and I was very shy 

I lost my tongue and you took my breath away.

Meeting you was my dream come true.

I’ve never known a love so true, as undeniable

as the one I felt for you deep inside me.

Each night I saw you in a new light, you glow so brightly,

so tenderly, very endearing, and when you welcome me 
into your arms, I feel complete, full of admiration.

Now that you are in Accra, will someone take my place?

I know we won’t have the time to spend together,

But, please forever keep me close to your heart.

Don't let the village curse me with laughter on the streets.

I’ll be here, can you remain the love I knew?

Where Will I Be Without You?

Yesterday and today are both present in tomorrow

And should tomorrow start without me
Or should the sun rise and I’m no longer by your side

Will I find your eyes filled with tears

As life without you is like a starless night

I know you love me much as I love you
But when tomorrow starts without me
Or you are told an angel came and took my hand
That my place was ready in heaven far above

Will me without you be like a colorless rainbow

For all my life you’ve always been on my mind
And I had so much to live for in your heart
It seems almost impossible I could live without you.
So when I think of today and what tomorrow will bring 

Where will I be without you if not a beach without a sand

I’ve always thought of the love we shared,

And if I could live just for a while
My only treasured possession is your smile

Which I want to take with me wherever I’ll be
But I realized nothing did I bring nor will take away

The emptiness and memories of me would bring tears

And the silence will blossom like tumors on lips

When you think you heard my footsteps on the stairs

So when tomorrow starts without me by your side

Let your smiles see me at home beyond heaven’s gates