The Hustler


I am but a pin in this strangling place;
A manic world drowning in sensual excess.
Yonder lies only shameless opulence,
And here, shameful squalor and discontent
Where cats eat mice and cheese 
And the mice must eat other mice.
Each day I jostle with the thousands 
In the sweltering noon sun at Nima
With hands and breast, I must heave and cleave,
The foundation of new mansions at Ashongman
Must push and pull truck and cart
Through Kantamanto and Mallam Atta
And nudge my way through the madding crowds
At Ashaiman and Agbogbloshie 
Till I hear the clink of copper in my pocket 
Or see the precious red paper at hand
To buy only stale bread and pure water,
Pay one macho man to ease myself,
And another one to wash,
And the rest to an indolent landlord 
at Sodom and Gomorrah
Whose only estate is the half-rotten kiosk
Where at the coming of darkness
With my legs as heavy as lead,
My muscles sickly with fatigue
And all my joints disjointed,
I suffocate with eight brothers from my village,
Tossing to the tune of a million mosquitoes, 
Singing ominous choruses all night long
With a family of mice gnawing at our feet. 

Have you read: Village Boy Impressions - Accra

I shall not see another nightfall here! 
But shall return in haste to my home
In the beautiful North
Where the Trade Wind blows 
To reveal the chicken’s rump;
The night is lit by a happy moon,
And a cockerel rises to herald the coming day.
There, I shall raise chickens, goats, and sheep. 
And watch the calves grow into cows. 
There I shall till the fields and tend the crops.
Maize, millet, groundnuts, and cowpea 
Shall thrive and flourish under my gaze. 
There, I can rest under the ageless neem tree, 
From the heat of the marauding noonday sun,
And drink my fill of frothy zu-nyiem[1] at noon, 
Eat my fill of saab[2] and wokta[3] soup at evening,
And whether on the mat or the dampala;[4]
I shall silence the mosquitoes with my snores!


24th October 2019


[1] A drink prepared by mixing millet flour and water
[2] Millet gruel - served with different types of soups, especially in Northern Ghana
[3] Kenaf leaves (Hibiscus cannabinus)
[4] Logs of wood placed outside a compound for siting either in the afternoon or in the evening. Typically has a hut over them for shade. 








Comments

  1. Great one there again. Looking forward to reading them in a book. May God grant you the means to publish them

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  2. Good work done. May the good Lord empower you with more wisdom and knowledge to do more.

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  3. Allegoric carpe diem. Keep whooshing my brother

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  4. This is a great write up may God endow you with more knowledge and wisdom to write more to inspire others.

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  5. I wooow whenever I read your peom. You are naturally blessed.
    Brother like no other

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  6. Very impressive, God bless your work. He is a great writer of our time.

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  7. It is certainly better to be home and at peace with yourself than to be lost in a place where you contend with yourself worth.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well done brother, your talents in this area is undoubted

    ReplyDelete

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