MY DATE

Mama taught me to be courteous, bless her heart

She taught me to say thank you and sorry when I offend

She also taught me to say little and mean much

But I am sorry I took her advice to mind my own business when walking on the streets

I would have met him sooner

He always passed me by

Trying to get my attention

I didn’t give him my time of day

That is why he bumped into me

Quite intentionally

I had to be really rude not to acknowledge him then

To say sorry, I had to look him in the eye

To look him in the eye, I had to get past that smile

To get past that smile, I had to curb my captivation

He ran smack into me

And I have learnt my lesson

From now on, I doubt I would miss much of his calls

One of my best dates is with a guy called OPPORTUNITY

TALK IS CHEAP

An incident that happened way back in the late 1990s in Agona Swedru is what I would like to narrate as an introduction to this piece of writing that probably has a tone of indignation to it.

The people of Agona Swedru had had enough. Power was almost always out. That was bad enough but the straw that finally broke the camel’s back I think was the undignified manner in which these ‘light outs’ were being carried out. No one ever bothered to tell any one of the victims when the next eventuality was due. Things were burning up, electrical appliances were being destroyed and let’s not mention the perishables in the fridges and freezers.

One blessed day, a couple of citizens, might have been the youth (I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I just heard the news) stormed the ECG premises. I can’t remember if anyone got hurt but a lot of properties were destroyed including the manager’s private car. (I heard the manager ran and hid but like I said, can’t be sure). I was a kid then but I remember distinctly that; no adult did I hear condemn what happened. Apparently, people had truly had enough! What makes this story peculiar and a bit funny is that; things actually did change after this incident and remained better for a long time after that.

I don’t know what the situation is today but I can tell you this is one story I relish telling. Well mob justice/ civil disobedience or whatever you might call it is wrong, however you slice it but I just can’t muster up any shame anytime I narrate this story with glee.

There is a neighborhood around ‘Santa Maria’ and ‘Awoshie Market’ in Accra called ‘Auntie Aku’. The roads within this neighborhood are really bad (or were really bad). They are now worse. Somebody got it into their head that plowing the roads will do the inhabitants any good and now the better of the roads have been destroyed. I do not have any technical expertise on road construction but could someone, please, anyone tell me the reasoning behind plowing every road we deem unmotorable in Ghana and then leaving it at that?

The roads have been plowed now, even those that didn’t need plowing and added to the nuisance of having to wade through mud if there should be any rain and the dust, a lot of pipelines have been broken. Thousands of gallons of water just pouring away. Three days now, and apparently, the man driving that monstrosity of a vehicle didn’t see fit to report that he had damaged some pipelines.

I have heard at least six inhabitants of the neighborhood express their displeasure at the state of things. Who decides these things? Who decides what is relevant and irrelevant for a community? To whom is the big fish (this time, the MP I suppose) accountable to. It most definitely shouldn’t be the government but rather the people enjoying the service. However, how is she supposed to be accountable if there is no ‘body’ to be accountable to? No organized group, nothing?

We love talk. Lots and lots of talk. We sit around our homes and work places and bombard the presidency, yet the odds are that John Mahama is more likely never to walk the streets of Auntie Aku unless there is a meteorite shower. The one we can hold accountable is the one we aren’t making any efforts to hold accountable.

TALK IS CHEAP…………………

ORIGINALITY

It almost always starts this way

A searing burning in my heart

     Racing heartbeats

Then there is the pin like pain in my head

Most definitely these tell me I am due

Those are my birth pains

When they come I write because that is how my words are born

There are times I have tried to induce them

Because I have heard it said that ‘you can’t wait forever’.

What has happened afterward no mother has had to do

Kill her own babies

It doesn’t help that stars have already blazed their trails on this path

I have gone in search of what others have done

Those are the days I have questioned what I have to give

And whether my footprints will even make indents in the path

Thank God the path is not made of glass

You are gonna ask for my autograph someday

When that day comes you are gonna wanna have a talk with me a bit

Then, maybe I might not have the luxury of time because of all the autographs I have to sign

When that day comes, just know I am just a girl who didn’t quit.

A girl who didn’t stop believing

A girl who believes in fairy tales

I have made up my mind

I am gonna write out of what I feel

In no particular order

Following no one’s rules

Just keeping it real.

Stay with me

Grow with me

Walk the red carpet with me

SHUSH

Hush now don’t tell

Daddy’s little girl dolled up in red

I am he alone who cares

Hush now don’t tell

Daddy’s little girl dolled up in red

He is he alone who cares

Shush now don’t share

Daddy’s little girl like no other

No other kitty compares either

You are you alone who is special

Shush now don’t argue

What I tell must you do

No competition for daddy’s affection can we allow

Else your oranges may turn omelets

Lest daddy’s little girl becomes the old girl

Mum is the word

Daddy’s little girl knows no other to be

He prowls and preys

He chases no skirts

He’s gay enough to be gay

He’s cute and smells like money

He’s kind and dishes it out like pebbles

He’s needy and enabled

It’s the government’s fault that he craves

He’s got enough to give

He’s got a lot he needs

Gay for a fee

Mum is the word

Tell no one

DEPTHS OF INSANITY

 ‘’We have chased our tails from the beginnings of time

We don’t mind we are dogs

You have asked from the beginnings of time

Why we do what we do

You shouldn’t mind we are dogs’’

……………………………………………………………………

Crazy is when you can say boys and not bacterias

Crazy is when you only meet ‘sullied’ people when you are a virgin

And virgins only when ‘sullied’

And crazy is when you let it matter

Crazy is why we think tears a weakness and anger a strength

Mr. World is warped

Society is insane

We are the only wise ones

This reader and I

That is why we have ever wondered

Why dogs chase after their own tails

While they think we should mind our own business

Crazy is why we are afraid of the future unknown

When we are in the deep shit of the present

You are not the last one standing

Your uniqueness ends with who you are

Not the situations you face

There is nothing new under the sun

The guy who said that is a really smart cookie

Love is crazy, so is hatred

Excitement is crazy, so is boredom

This whole piece is crazy

The writer has caught the bug

The reader is on his way

Society thinks it is sane

So does every crazy person.

THE BEAUTYFUL ONES ARE NOT YET BORN

Years ago, before I actually sat my butt down to read Ayi Kwei Armah’s the beautyful ones are not yet born, I had the whole book figured out.

The hero/heroine will be jilted, (s)he will be heart-broken, recovery or some advice from a wise man/woman (whichever came first), and then the great epiphany; thereby giving birth to the title…………..or something lame along those lines.

 

When I finally read the book, I kept looking for a justification for the title in the first few pages and guess what? I never found one. Then again, that could just be me. Maybe you figured the whole ‘title’ thing within the first few pages but I didn’t. Lines turned to pages and pages to chapters and I still kept wondering why the writer would give the story such a title. It wasn’t until the last page of the story before I caught on to where the title came from. If you haven’t read this book I recommend it. Just don’t let this piece of writing be a spoiler and please don’t rush to go and read the last page of the book. Have a little self control, will you?

Anyway, my point is; it is very unfair and a bit silly to make up your mind about the BIBLE you haven’t read and call it false. You may be basing your argument on some verse you heard someone quote and chances are the person probably quoted it wrong. We like doing that a lot (by ‘we’, I mean those of us who are the ‘religious’ fanatics). We misquote the Bible a lot of the time.  Why don’t you read it for yourself and make up your own mind? And when I say read it for yourself, I mean, without prejudice. You might be surprised at how much you’ve assumed.

Don’t take my word for it but that ‘holy book’ is…………………never mind. Figure it out for yourself.

TILL NEXT TIME, THANK YOU FOR READING.