May the souls of Kofi Awoonor and the other 71 victims of the Westgate Shopping mall attack rest in perfect peace and may God give their families the fortitude to bear these losses, which I know are irreplaceable. Everybody is at their tiny corners of the world and even though we empathize, condemn the evil doers, and in rare cases pray for the victims, we will never know what it feels like to be blown into billion pieces by a bomb or held hostage with guns to our heads. God forbid we ever do. Will terrorism ever stop or is it a menace that has come to stay? There is this joke about if you are asked to choose between Bill Gate's wealth and world peace, what would be the color of your Bentley? I am not even trying to sound modest here or good, but if this world peace means no random bomb attacks or no malicious and inhumane killings; if this world peace means children don't become orphans or people don't become childless all of a sudden; if this world peace means no more senseless wars; if this world peace means no more tyrants and dictators; if this world peace means no cancer or any life threatening diseases, Bill Gate's money can rot in hell, I will CHOOSE WORLD PEACE. I absolutely mean that, quote me anywhere. I hope I am not alone. To celebrate and honor a prolific poet, I had to go dig up his most popular (This is his most popular that I know) poem and put it up. It reminds me so much of secondary school/high school and how Literature was my best subject, it was where I was most comfortable; where I got did well without even making any effort :)))
Songs Of Sorrow. Kofi Awoonor
Songs Of Sorrow. Kofi Awoonor
Dzogbese Lisa has treated me thus
It has led me among the sharps of the forest
Returning is not possible
And going forward is a great difficulty
The affairs of this world are like the chameleon faeces
Into which I have stepped
When I clean it cannot go.
I am on the world's extreme corner,
I am not sitting in the row with the eminent
But those who are lucky
Sit in the middle and forget
I am on the world's extreme corner
I can only go beyond and forget.
My people, I have been somewhere
If I turn here, the rain beats me
If I turn there the sun burns me
The firewood of this world
Is for only those who can take heart
That is why not all can gather it.
The world is not good for anybody
But you are so happy with your fate;
Alas! the travelers are back
All covered with debt.
Something has happened to me
The things so great that I cannot weep;
I have no sons to fire the gun when I die
And no daughter to wail when I close my mouth
I have wandered on the wilderness
The great wilderness men call life
The rain has beaten me,
And the sharp stumps cut as keen as knives
I shall go beyond and rest.
I have no kin and no brother,
Death has made war upon our house;
And Kpeti's great household is no more,
Only the broken fence stands;
And those who dared not look in his face
Have come out as men.
How well their pride is with them.
Let those gone before take note
They have treated their offspring badly.
What is the wailing for?
Somebody is dead. Agosu himself
Alas! a snake has bitten me
My right arm is broken,
And the tree on which I lean is fallen.
Agosi if you go tell them,
Tell Nyidevu, Kpeti, and Kove
That they have done us evil;
Tell them their house is falling
And the trees in the fence
Have been eaten by termites;
That the martels curse them.
Ask them why they idle there
While we suffer, and eat sand.
And the crow and the vulture
Hover always above our broken fences
And strangers walk over our portion.
It has led me among the sharps of the forest
Returning is not possible
And going forward is a great difficulty
The affairs of this world are like the chameleon faeces
Into which I have stepped
When I clean it cannot go.
I am on the world's extreme corner,
I am not sitting in the row with the eminent
But those who are lucky
Sit in the middle and forget
I am on the world's extreme corner
I can only go beyond and forget.
My people, I have been somewhere
If I turn here, the rain beats me
If I turn there the sun burns me
The firewood of this world
Is for only those who can take heart
That is why not all can gather it.
The world is not good for anybody
But you are so happy with your fate;
Alas! the travelers are back
All covered with debt.
Something has happened to me
The things so great that I cannot weep;
I have no sons to fire the gun when I die
And no daughter to wail when I close my mouth
I have wandered on the wilderness
The great wilderness men call life
The rain has beaten me,
And the sharp stumps cut as keen as knives
I shall go beyond and rest.
I have no kin and no brother,
Death has made war upon our house;
And Kpeti's great household is no more,
Only the broken fence stands;
And those who dared not look in his face
Have come out as men.
How well their pride is with them.
Let those gone before take note
They have treated their offspring badly.
What is the wailing for?
Somebody is dead. Agosu himself
Alas! a snake has bitten me
My right arm is broken,
And the tree on which I lean is fallen.
Agosi if you go tell them,
Tell Nyidevu, Kpeti, and Kove
That they have done us evil;
Tell them their house is falling
And the trees in the fence
Have been eaten by termites;
That the martels curse them.
Ask them why they idle there
While we suffer, and eat sand.
And the crow and the vulture
Hover always above our broken fences
And strangers walk over our portion.
P:S.: Welcome to everyone who stumbles on my blog through this page. I will admit this is incredibly old, so I am overjoyed to see people still enjoy it as much. That said, here are other, probably better, posts on this page I really think you will love. Please check them out, and remember: you are always welcome here:
I am with you in the choice of world peace. That's also an intense poem you dug up,it got me all teary. Yeah yeah it also gave me a flash back of our literture classes in which you were sure good. I align myself with your stand on this. Good work
ReplyDeleteLol, thanks Chika for affirming how good I was :p lol and also for stopping by :)
ReplyDeleteyes it's true that
ReplyDeletethe only people that can gather the firewood
0f this life is those that get heart,
life is not what we think.