Fish Out of Water

(A Poem,  by Selasi Komla Adjor)

They told us never to muddy their calm waters
They told us to toe their straight line
And keep the rhythm
They told us not to look beyond these walls
Nor ever dare to climb them
They showed us our boundaries, potentials
And buried our potentials

But we got tired
And scripted the rules,- bespoke

So,
This is us!
This is us!

Stirring the waters and causing a turbulence

This is us!
Jumping beyond our reach and aiming for the stars
This is us!
Breaking out of our cocoon and venturing out unto terra incognita

This is us!
Crossing their darn lines
And shattering their glass ceilings
This is us!
Writing our new songs,
Songs with an upbeat tempo.

This is us!
Sitting at the head of the very tables they forbade us from
This is us!
Spoilt for choice
From this menu of boundless opportunities.

This is us!


© Selasi Komla Adjor
21/01/2020
21:00GMT
ASOKORE KOFORIDUA

PC: Anon

Look at God

(A Poem, inspired by Anita Ohene)

When we have given up hope
And walked away
When we have cried out our eyes
And are blinded by self-pity
When the open doors bang shut in our faces
And the last ship sets sail before we get to the dock
When we’ve exhausted the alternatives to our alternatives
And there’s nowhere else to turn

He shows up
He always does
He has a way of doing things
He leaves you befuddled

And as we wipe those sore eyes
And as we wipe those dirty feet
And as we run into His warm embrace
We can only utter these words in praise…

“Look at God, He showed up, when we had long given up! ”

© Selasi Komla Adjor

20/01/2020

Asokore-Koforidua

Pc: google

Just Thankful To Still Be Here

(Inspired by Nayram Afi Kakraba)

I heard the shrill cries of my neighbours

It was dawn, 2:36AM
Death had visited their home unannounced
And had taken their only child, without their permission.

I keep wondering how they would ever recover. I truly wonder

I saw the woman on the corner
She was muttering incomprehensible nothings
She couldn’t hold it anymore
She was losing her sanity

I am told she escaped the psychiatric hospital

The things people go through!

The demons we fight everyday!

I visited an old mate
He was battling depression
Ten years after school,
He didn’t have any job

He felt he was good for nothing
He wondered if he was cursed
He had contemplated suicide a couple of times
It was the thought of his aged mother, that had prevented him from carrying it through

I met this beautiful girl
She wore the saddest looks I had ever seen
There was pain in her eyes
She hugged her body in fright
Her head drooped in resignation
I am told she was drugged and raped
By her own cousin and his four friends
The thought of it sends shivers down my spine

He was returning from the hospital

His kidney was failing, or was it his liver?

He mentioned dialysis or something along those lines

It was the weekly costs which scared me

His bank accounts were in deep red,

What could he do?
Just hours after her wedding,
She was the victim of a devastating accident
Yeah, she had had a couple of surgeries
And would need to do a couple more
Yeah, Newly wed, also newly stitched.
I doubt if she would look in a mirror
I pray she doesn’t.

I drove past a gory scene
It was a head-on collision
Fatal, no survivors
These souls had promised their loved ones of their safe return
But alas, it was not to be

Someone somewhere is waiting for their kin to come back home.
I wouldn’t wanna be the harbinger of this bad news to any family

I overheard the kids talk
About how their home wasn’t a happy place anymore
Daddy always came back drunk to a stupor
He practiced his boxing skills on Mummy’s face
Mummy says they’re leaving
There’s an uncompleted building three blocks away
They’d put up shelter till Mummy found a safer place
God, send them a guardian angel,
Please do.

I met this hawker,
Her wares intact
Nobody had patronized a thing
From dawn to dusk
Tired and famished
She asked for a Cedi or two,
She had mouths to feed.
I parted with a few notes
I doubt if it would sustain her beyond two days.
I know it won’t, but I pray it does.
I sincerely hope it does.

I stood right behind the pastor
I saw him pour sand on the lowered casket
I heard him say “ashes to ashes ”
I scanned the sea of sorrowful faces
And wiped the hot water that ran down my cheeks
“So this man didn’t even stay till Christmas?”
I asked myself .
I didn’t wanna be in his shoes
At least not till I am past seventy and have got to christen my grandchildren.

However gloomy our stories are,
We are still here

Whatever whooping life may have meted out to us,
We are still here.

Tomorrow is a blank page
We thank the heavens we still hold in our hands
The pen to write out how our stories end
So yeah, we are still here.

After all we have been through
We are just thankful to still be here

©~Selasi Komla Adjor
27/12/2019
23:00GMT
Dodowa

PC: Pinterest

Amansie-Ba

(For Kwaku Adjei-Fobi)

We would have called the bards
To sing you a chorus
We would have called the poets
To recite for you a verse

Who sends songs to the Great songwriter
Or verses to the Master Bard?

So,
We would rather gather at your feet
And drink deep from your wise wells.

Wednesday son, of Amansie Bekwai
Today, we commemorate your regal birth
Which ocassioned many moons ago
Today, we thank the heavens
For blessing us with a gift like you.

You are the steadfast gatekeeper to the citadel of knowledge
You are the patient counselor, ever abounding in wise counsel.

Father, Friend, Firebrand,
Amansie-Ba Kwaku Adjei-Fobi,
We bless the heavens
On your birth-day

©~Selasi Komla Adjor

27/12/2019

7:16GMT

Gbàdura Fún Mi

(A Poem)

When the nights are long
And sleep has eloped my precincts
When the stomach keeps rumbling,
And the pans in the pantry are empty,
Pray for me

When the party is over, And the revelers leave in pairs,
When this solitary heart is heavy
And a listening ear is absent,
Pray for me

When shoulders abound all around
But there’s none to cry on
When the roads are wide and clear cut
But I still can’t find my way home,
Pray for me

When all the strength is sapped from this darn drudgery
But the pocket and purse have nothing to show for,
Pray for me

When a beloved hopelessly lies bedridden
And death bangs on the door with vexatious vehemence,
When the debts fleetly accumulate
And there is no end in sight,
Pray for me

When my voice is lost in the crowd
And my tears are hid by the rain
When the night is long and darkest,
And dawn takes forever to come,
Pray for me.

Please,
Pray for me
I will be on the lookout,
For that sliver of hope
And that comforting breeze.

©~Selasi Komla Adjor
26/12/2019
16:33GMT
Dodowa.

Poet’s Note: The poem’s title (Gbadura fun mi) is a Yoruba expression which is translated as pray for me

PC:

Philip’s-The Poet (Facebook)

compassionuk.org

Mirth

(A Poem)

There are days,
When there’s the rain
Which soothes the fiery rays,
So we smile again.

There are days,
When the flowers bloom
And the fields are awash with colourful displays
Prettier than a bride and her groom

There are days,
When there’s not enough, but still we care
So we light our candles to brighten the ways
And drive out darkness and every fear

There are days,
When there’s a spring in our gait
And even our foe, for us, a prayer says
‘Cos love always wins over hate

There are days,
When the gentle wind finds our sails
And ferries us swiftly without delays
So our enterprises are fruitful without fail.

There are days,
When the smiles are earnest and the embraces, hearty
When the fire is warm and the party, jolly
When the wine is kind to our palate, and the food, our belly
Yeah, those days,
When you wish the music never ends, but perpetually replays!

© Selasi Komla Adjor
10/12/2019
23:48 GMT

18 Obp. Akua Addai Street.
Koforidua-Asokore

PC: Google

EUPHEMISMS

(A Poem, by Selasi Komla Adjor)

Oftentimes,
I sift my thoughts
And pick my words
So, when you hear me say “Okay”
Or “Alright”,
Pray, do not push me to the wall.

I doubt if you would survive the onslaught and the barrage of my uncensored tongue

Be grateful, that I speak in Euphemisms and Embellishments

If you would rather, there were no holds barred,
Pray, you advance the Cremator, and buy yourself an urn.
For, when this verbal stampede is over,
Your remains shall be distorted beyond recognition!

©Selasi Komla Adjor
5/12/2019
17:10GMT

18 Obp. Akua Addai Street.
Asokore-Koforidua.

PC: Getty Images.

I Would NOT Laugh Again

(A Poem, by Selasi Komla Adjor)

(To the Kill-joys,who think they own our happiness.)

I see,
That my laughter narks you
And if your dreary spirit would have it,
There should be no gaiety in these precincts.

Why you choose melancholy over mirth,
Keeps me befuddled.
Why you set camp far away from all things exultant,
Keeps me turning in my bed.

Ergo, in your presence I make this vow:
I would not laugh again.
I would not even grin nor chortle, or titter,
‘Cos I do not want to trouble your troubled soul.

I would not laugh again,
Nay!

I would let out a rumbling guffaw,
And reel in jollity!

I would bray and cachinnate
In brazen merriment
Till my mirth maddens your infelicitous spirit.

Then you would rather I laughed.

See these sweet moist in my eyes?
And how cathartically sore my rib cage has become?
Who are you, to ask me not to laugh?

© Selasi Komla Adjor
17/11/2018
14:00 GMT.

PANKESE-NKAWKAW.

Full Circle

(For Godzo Divine, for being a big brother. On the eve of his birthday )

I have journeyed
Yet again the full circle,
I have travelled under the steadfast watch
Of the One who does not slumber

And while I am a year older
I, like vintage wine have aged finer
The Omnipotent serenades my ears with sweet melodies of His unending Love.

Today, Sogbolisa calls me to a banquet
I dare not count my blessings
For I CAN NOT finish the count.
He keeps adding to my fold.

For bringing me this far, and Promising to take me yonder,
Here I stand, hands lifted, in total surrender
Up at You I gaze, in complete wonder
Of the man I have become
And of the God you are!

©Selasi Komla Adjor

15/11/2019

A Sinner’s Worship

(A Poem, by Selasi Komla Adjor)

These feet,
That have come to stand in Your presence
Have trodden on devious grounds
Have hobnobbed with the devil
These feet have hurried to another’s destruction
And have trampled upon truth and justice

These feet of mine,
Have come to stand in Your Presence.

These hands of mine,
That are lifted in Your adoration
Have been sullied
Have meddled in murder
Have transacted treacherously

These my hands, have
Contrived unthinkable under-dealings and iniquities
Have received bribes and taken lives

These hands of mine,
Which sat comfortably on my laps when they should have fought for the liberation of the defenseless,

These same hands,
Are lifted in Your adoration

These lips,
that have come to sing Your praise,
Have cursed and slandered ,
Have spoken malice and deceit
Have hurled invectives and innuendos
Have incited hate and strife.

These lips of mine, have come to sing Your praise.

This heart that wants to love You,
Has loved unlovable things
Has lusted and loathed, and envied and coveted.
This heart has reveled in vile machinations,
And has delighted in the downfall of others.

These eyes,
That want to see Your glory
Have watched on with indifference the plight of the helpless
These haughty eyes, in self-righteousness have looked on others with scorn.

These eyes of mine,
That watched on in deafening silence, as the poor man’s only morsel was snatched from his mouth by insatiable gormandisers,

These same eyes of mine,
Have come to see Your glory.

Dear Lord,

Would

You

Still

ACCEPT

my Worship?

©Selasi Komla Adjor
27/10/2019 10:00GMT

(Sometime in church, while worship was ongoing)

Pc: Getty Images.