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Showing posts with the label Poems

[Poem] … And Madiba Wept

By AlatiphA - April 17, 2015

No amount of sweet words can quench The fury and rage that has consumed your souls No peace talks and promise savoured in myrrh Can restore your emotions gone astray For deep down within, in the place where beings are formed The stiletto of hatred has struck an ill-starred chord And an obscene eulogy of deaths is heralded on your streets Cold blood, cold face, cold hearts! But wait…! The cries of your warm hearts are tenable But your ways are near irreparable Like it rained fishes in Thailand, you wished same for Durban You are hungry, naked and homeless In the country of your birth, in the land you fought to keep I hear your wailings thundered the earth with tremor Your unspoken gait shakes the human in me I feel your pain because I was there I took the bullet for that freedom The same freedom you trample on your streets Remember the struggles that freed your limbs The clamour that rented your soul And the love that restored your pride From your kindreds, ne...

The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

By AlatiphA - February 07, 2015

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand; A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Wind ...

Impetuous Son

By AlatiphA - February 04, 2015

Africa tell me Africa Is this you this back that is bent This back that breaks under the weight of humiliation This back trembling with red scars And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun But a grave voice answers me Impetuous son, that tree young and strong That tree there In splendid loneliness amidst white and faded flowers That is Africa your Africa That grows again patiently obstinately And its fruit gradually acquire The bitter taste of liberty DAVID DIOP, “Africa"

Yesterday

By AlatiphA - October 28, 2014

Yesterday I slept. It was a fitful sleep I tossed and turned Whimpered and yearned For the moment I would wake Because, Yesterday I dreamed I dreamed of you I dreamed of me We made plans Wanted a family Yesterday you died I am kneeling once again Upon the freshly packed earth Staring at the spot that will soon bear your marker A tear traces its saline trail from the corner of my eye Down my nose and now, it hangs precariously off the tip It drops to the ground And finally it hits me: YOU’RE down there! There’s no air! You can’t breathe! My fingers scratch at the earth Frantically Hot liquid streams down my face as I call to you My nails break but I feel nothing I ignore the blood from the pads of my fingers I must get to you. My heart is hammering, Loudly in my ears And now the soil is moist with my tears Hands grab onto mine in an attempt to still them A voice Insistent in my ear And yet I do not understand They’re wrong! You...

A different example: Elegy for President JEA Mills: By Gideon Quarcoo

By AlatiphA - July 24, 2013

From conjoined loins of Ekumfi Otuam and environs of the Oguaa region Issued a son unheralded, yet surely destined for Greatness Treading the foothills of Tarkwa, learning early the hard clean line To eschew pride and avarice, preaching love, forgiveness and peace Hearkening to God the Holy Father, with Christ the Saviour in warm embrace, Patched in the Grey City on the Outlaw’s Hill, Glorious Kuziunik’s fortress no less Duly rendered in Legon-on-the-hill, steeped in Traditions of the gentleman scholar Always a kind word for kith and kin, for friend or foe, made no difference So let it be known that even then, you were setting a different example My Brothers and Sisters… even early then you were setting a different example! With steely resolve and tenacity, three times out and three times back in Presidentially with lofty principle, yours a different example did you set When friends, once loving, close and loyal, traitorous now sought your demise You c...

A dubious awards ceremony!

By AlatiphA - April 06, 2013

The arena is set in my fatherland. The period is fixed in the nineties. The presenters of the award are poets. To our head of state we present........ A human head; congrats! Your excellencies, You have done noble. To the entire Parliamentarians, we present........ A well-written manifesto You may present this to your electorate, sirs! To the Dons we present...... An oath to recycle Old creed in the mill of poverty. To the civil servants we present....... A plague "Files on traffic jam."

Inflation!

By AlatiphA - April 06, 2013

The way money flies! The way it proudly plies! Now you see it, then you don't. Try to tame it and it won't. Economists call this inflation. I don't care. It's a financial deflation that people fear. It's like a ghostly curse On everyone's purse. Money has grown wings, Becoming haughty things Like stars out of reach. You must strain to be rich. As for me, I laugh at them. Like insects at my garment's hem They are still within my sphere. Wherever they flee, I'm there. When they get tired of flight I'll pull them like a kite Because economics is not absolute To a mind that is resolute.

World on the edge!

By AlatiphA - April 06, 2013

The Earth is dying, and so are we. And yet little we seem to see How we are digging our own graves For simple things like money and profit power, control and gold in caves. Our world is falling, and little we care. The species is dying, and it seems unfair. The world of men is now on the edge, And as i write this, here on the ledge, I look down, to stare death in the face. And then look up, to say my final grace. I tried to change the world for the better, I tried but in the end i failed. For in this world, only the rich are hailed, As for the rest, the road is hard Because day by day, the species is growing apart. It is, but just a matter of time Before our world crumbles into darkness And then we will realize how we can save ourselves Through love, togetherness and kindness But by then, it will all be too little too late ...

T'was a night before Christmas!

By AlatiphA - December 24, 2012

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the Net, There were hacker's surfing. Nerds? Yeah, you bet. The e-mails were stacked by the modem with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The newbies were nestled all snug by their screens, While visions of Java danced in their dreams. My wife on the sofa and me with a snack, We just settled down at my rig (it's a Mac). When out in the Web there arose such a clatter, I jumped to the site to see what was the matter. To a new page my Mac flew like a flash, Then made a slight gurgle. It started to crash!! I gasped at the thought and started to grouse, Then turned my head sideways and clicked on my mouse. When what to my wondering eyes should appear? My Mac jumped to a page that wasn't quite clear. When the image resolved, so bright and so quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick! More rapid than mainframes, more graphics they came, Then Nick glanced toward my screen, my Mac called th...

Am I not Ghanaian like you?

By AlatiphA - March 29, 2012

Drip drop, The rain falls on my abode, Letting drops into my sleeping place, On the ground. It’s not a house this's the place where I live, It’s a tent, torn and tattered. Four years after getting this tent I am forgotten, Just a statistic, Coming up in the news, Showing how many were displaced in the violence. The politicians I hear, Are campaigning again, Saying that they have billions to spend on campaigns. Why won’t they spend some of it on me? Give me somewhere to stay, Return to me my dignity, Which I lost in the 2008 political violence. I don’t live here by choice, but by circumstance. Politicians and government make promises, But am still here, While they sleep in their cozy mansions, Which I hear are featured on TV. I don’t have a TV, to watch the news, I lost everything in post elections, My property and money, family, and my dignity. I voted for a better Ghana, And it turned me into a refugee in my own country. They say I am internally disp...

Mr. Politician! You're tom & I'm Jerry.

By AlatiphA - March 14, 2012

Mr politician, I wonder... When you were a child did you ever watch cartoons? Because from what I see you behave like one. Your like Tom from the Tom and Jerry cartoon. The big fat cat trying to make life difficult for the little mice like Jerry. Mr Politician, You sit in your big expensive house with your many servants, Drive your big expensive car fueled with taxpayers Ghc, Even get an entertainment allowance which you spend on questionable "entertainments." While I, the loyal citizen pay exorbitant taxes to support your bad habits. Mr politicians I have no food to eat, leave alone a big fridge like yours. My children go to government schools, Where for every one teacher there are sixty pupils, While yours learn in luxury with computers and state of the art equipment. Mr Politician, Everytime I try to rise up economically, you bring my business down, So that I may not complete with your multi-million business. When I fight for my rights, you have me ar...

Ghana is fifty five?

By AlatiphA - March 06, 2012

Harry! Ghana is fifty – five years old today. Praise be to God! Praise be to God Almighty! But are we really Independent? Oh, yes we are! No, we are not. How can we be Independent, when we disrespect our culture? How can we be Independent, when custodians of our culture, of our identity fight among themselves because of terminal power? How can we be Independent, when we husbands beat and butcher our wives to death? How can we be Independent, when we irresponsibly litter our gutters and streets with abandoned babies and infants? How can we be Independent, when poverty and starvation steal our joy? How can we be Independent, when dishonesty and crave for money eat us up? How can we be Independent, when laziness, pride and arrogance have become fashionable clothes that we wear in this land of our birth? How can we say we are Independent, when dirt and filth swallow us up in our communities? How can we be Independent, when hatred and bitterness fill our hearts day in da...

What is love?

By AlatiphA - November 20, 2011

What is love? But an emotion, So strong and so pure, That nurtured and shared with another All tests it will endure? What is love? But a force To bring the mighty low, With the strength to shame the mountains And halt time’s ceaseless flow? What is love? But a triumph, A glorious goal attained, The union of two souls, two hearts A bond the angels have ordained? What is love? But a champion, To cast the tyrant from his throne, And raise the flag of truth and peace, And fear of death o’erthrow? What is love? But a beacon, To guide the wayward heart, A blazing light upon the shoals That dash cherished dreams apart? What is love? But forever, Eternal and sincere, A flame that through wax and wane Will outlive life’s brief years? What is love? So I’ll tell it on the mountain tops, In all places high and low, That love for you is my reason to be, And will never break or bow

Is she a whore? This never would have happened. If the rubber hadn't torn.

By AlatiphA - October 23, 2011

Roses are red, Pickles are green. I love your legs and What's between. Kissing is a habit. Fucking is a game. Guys get all the pleasure. Girls get all the pain. The guy says i love you. You believe it's true. But when your tummy, Starts to swell, He says, 'to hell with you'. 10 minutes of pleasure. Nine months in pain. Three days in hospital. A baby without a name. Some called him/her bastard. The mother is a whore. This never would have happened. If the rubber hadn't torn.

Hold on to Love!

By AlatiphA - October 18, 2011

Hold on to Love With all your might Don't let it get Too far from sight It only comes around Every once in awhile To make you laugh Cry and smile It may break your Heart But you can't deny When you're in Love It's the ultimate high To look into another’s eyes Feel weak in the knees To float with the clouds High above the trees To kiss rose-petal lips And hold your fragile hand To feel the way I feel Isn't Love just grand

A woman's dua for her future husband!

By AlatiphA - October 01, 2011

O Allah! Please grant me the one Who will be the garment for my soul Who will satisfy half of my deen And in doing so make me whole Make him righteous and on your path In all he'll do and say And sprinkle water on me at Fajr Reminding me to pray May he earn from halal sources And spend within his means May he seek Allah's guidance always To fulfill all his dreams May he always refer to Qur'an and the Sunnah as his moral guide May he thank and appreciate Allah For the woman at his side May he be conscious of his anger And often fast and pray Be charitable and sensitive In every possible way May he honor and protect me And guide me in this life And please Allah! Make me worthy to be his loving wife And finally, O Allah! Make him abundant in love and laughter In taqwa and sincerity In striving for the hereafter! May Allah grant all the Muslim sisters with such husbands... Ameen♥

Secrete love!

By AlatiphA - September 29, 2011

The hands of fate have twisted again Altered the love I was to send She saw me with a different eye She waved as she left a tearful goodbye My feelings for her will go forever unseen To be hidden away like a forgotten dream She'll never know as I cloud my eyes I vow forever to keep this disguise I can never open my heart she can never see Exactly what she means to me I smile and wave as rain falls from above Now I know the meaning of unconditional love

THE RAPTURE? A bird is flying away from her nest, 'Why is she running away from her rest?

By AlatiphA - September 07, 2011

A bird is flying away from her nest, 'Why is she running away from her rest?' A leaf is swinging down from its branch, 'Is there life on these hardened rocks?' Mother's grey hair is droppin 'Has she lost her crown of wisdom?' The clouds are running away, hidding behind the hills, The sky is naked, the stars cry in darkness Tears like rain overflows the streams, The violent seas, floods of insanity The lioness and the sheep hold hands in fear, 'Where is man and his laws of science?' The hunting dog finds no prey in its tears, The night owl hides from darkness in its fears, The harp strings are broken, the music rythm is lost, In the voice singing the song, its tears the most, Diseases with no cure, wars and starvation, Slavery of the poor, all in discrimination

Freedom from love?

By AlatiphA - July 28, 2011

Is there a time when love will remain still in our hearts? Or will it move in constant motion toward an unknown? Is there ever a time when our hearts will accept the love given? And offer more than we have ever known without asking for more? Is there a time, perhaps a crack in the universe where I can hide devoid of all watching eyes? And reaching hands that only take where all pain oozes from my pores? And escapes me where all the tears fall from my eyes onto waiting planets in need of rain? Is there a place in this universe where I belong without want of anything? Is there a spot that I can call my own without needing anyone? Let me crawl into that black hole where everything disappears into oblivion's Grasping fingertips, finally releasing me into freedom. Freedom from love?

WHO AM I, TEARS, SWEAT AND BLOOD?

By AlatiphA - July 16, 2011

I am the man rising from the ashes of darkness, The voice of awakening calling from the sheath of blackness, The mind, the soul, the idea, the thought caught up in oneness, The truth, the light, the love, the wisdom of selflessness, 'Darkness is not evil, it is the beauty of nightness'. Man is just tears, sweat and blood I have mused through worlds and worlds of universes, Flashes of injustice, illusions of reality is the order of this existence, A hunter's bow, a hunter's arrow is the emblem of this habitation of sorrows, 'In the holding of the creator, is life and perfection', Man is just tears, sweat and blood. Toiling the evils of day, In sweat he taste honey of its sweetness, Illusioned by religious dogmas, In tears is his prayer to the gods of his beingness, Conned by democracy, politics, In blood is his struggle to survive the life race, Pressing the flesh for opportunities sake, Man is just tears, sweat and blood