Posts

Showing posts with the label Parenting

The Death of Common Sense in Ghana

Image
Common Sense is Dead! Today we mourn the passing of an old friend and mother, Common Sense, who has been our teacher and caretaker for many years. For years we had heard of the deaths of her namesakes in Europe and North America but we did not realise that the end of our own beloved Common Sense was near. Like her namesakes who passed before her, no one knows for sure how old she was, since her birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. Affectionately known to many as Sound Thinking, Good Faith, Rational Thought,  and  Moral Fortitude,  she selflessly devoted herself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals and offices, helping folks get jobs done without fuss, fanfare, or drama. But alas! Never again will logic and good conscience grace our presence. She was a most loving mother, and will be remembered as having taught us such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain, The early bird gets the worm,  Life isn't always

Fathers

Image
There is a house, half in ruins At the other end of the village Battered and ravaged by wind and rain Half the walls lie prostrate As in obeisance to an unseen god. The mud roof has fallen through The thatch roof cries for a layer All the timber is rotten with age And there is no gate or door To cover the nakedness of that house If only there was a father to build! Read:  Village Boy Impressions - Once A Giant Walked the Earth     There is a field down yonder Where thick and tall weeds grow And strangle the infant crop; The millet is yellow and dwarfish,  The corn is stunted and cobless,  And the cowpea run podless,  There is no hope for a harvest All are accounted as forage No blade to the sward is laid For there is no father to till!          There is a boy and his sister in the city Their beauty you must look hard to see Their nostrils run like streams Their nails are long and black Flies and all insects go after them They sleep in sigh