Village boy Impressions

Once, I was held sacred. Whole. Alive, I cradled your fathers— And their fathers before them. I gave from my bounty— Millet , yams , nuts , milk, and nectar  With sorghum from my back, They brewed pito to intoxicate their gods. Their laughter echoing down my plains. And in return, I received their care, Their love— And also, their dead. Now, your greed threatens my very essence.   Trees and shrubs once danced on my back, They dance no more. They’re gone. Once they whispered to the winds at dawn, Now only stumps and dust remain. Ghosts of life, scorched by your greed. Engines now hum where birds once sang, Bulldozers raze where crops once sprang. You traded roots for rubble, shade for shame.   They told you gold lies in my bosom— So you stab me, again and again. Looted my bowels and sold my bones. Turning my rivers into toxic dreams. My fields lie bare, my waters poisoned, Fish float belly-up like broken promises. And children drink poison for b...

They said gold would change everything. That shiny dust beneath the earth Could build homes, Buy new clothes, new phones, Forge new lives. They said school is slow. Hard work is for fools. Rich men dig gold — so why not us? And I believed them.     Now every morning, I wake to the roar of changfang motors , The choking fumes of generators , The sound of hammers striking stones, The hoarse coughing of my cousins My classroom is a pit. My pencil is a pickaxe. I write my future— In the belly of the earth. My soul is consumed by gold.     I see the river — Brown with poison , bitter as truth. Once, I drank from it. Now, it kills everything Even the frogs have fled And their song is silenced.     All around, I see only empty fields — No millet , no cassava, no cowpea No grass for a rat to hide, No shade for a bird to nest, Only craters where food once grew And stumps, scotched by greed. ...

This morning’s gold was not the sky,  But you - riding past King David’s Junction I saw you,  Turning the road into a quiet swoon  And I - just watching - forgot to breathe,  The sun rose gently, knowing its place;  It couldn’t outshine your grace. 29 July 2025. 

I tried to speak –   But every word fell backward into the pit of my chest. My tongue, tied with velvet ropes , could not utter a sound. My eyes, bound by that enchanted beauty , refused to look away. I could not ask, She did not answer. Yet in that hush, Everything passed between us –   like cool air through open windows And in my heart butterflies  danced.     No vows were said. No sonnets were spoken Only the thudding of my ribs, Sounding like mighty blows Each beat a quiet confession of love I could not articulate. In the stillness, My gaze wrote novels Her heart read like scripture .     When she walked right past me, The world returned in whispers – The birds resumed their song, The clocks remembered time. But I remained undone. My feet moved through air, My breath still caught in that space between almost and never. I stared with nothing in my hands, But everything in my he...

  When the day unfolds and the sun begins to smile, When light spurts in the east and the wind begins to stir, And all the living awake in wonder and delight, I rise with eager hope to contemplate your love! When the warming sun stretches forth over the fields,  When leaf and blossom with fragrance fill the air,  And the birds their morning hymn of praise intone, I hasten from my lair that I may behold your beauty. When golden noon comes and all beasts shelter seek,  When the wind is at rest and sweat is on the brow,  And beneath the blazing roofs the kids must retire, I sit and muse upon your beauty and my heart is glad! When the sun is in the west and wind returns from the north;  When the farmer in field with longing gazes at his road home, And the labourer observes his weary day draws to fruition, I hasten the sun to his grave with longing for thee. When light and beauty is in the west, and leaf and blossom fall, When eventide haste...

“Give your daughters difficult names. Names that command the full use of the tongue. My name makes you want to tell me the truth. My name does not allow me to trust anyone who cannot pronounce it right.”       — Warsan Shire   —  When I was young, I heard names that made us stop and listen Akanlakum, Awadiirima Names that made us think and think Agyiabadek , Asuiyakomi Names that made us pause to reflect Akanvariwon, Akalaawomba Names that made us gasp in wonder Asuikanpuilikum, Akumbolisimi . But now my ears are burdened with unfamiliar words Monotonous droning that leaves the spirit dry Meaningless mutterings without thought or intent Without root, stem or crown Many invoke the Godhead in fashion, without true reverence; Awen-this, Awen-that, Everything-Awen Godly names without godly lessons, Like the fake imported dresses we wear, sparkling, but too short To cover our shame and too light to shield us from the cold I long f...

The day and the hour draws nigh  When all shall return to Him  Who did form them of word and clay  And did give to  all His own breath  And set them upon the earth to tend  And to possess it for a time.  Before him, all shall stand  Bare, silent, helpless.  Fear, you sons of men, tremble!  Fall prostrate before Him.  Shred the malice of  your heart  And drop that haughty look  For of all nails that did stab Him;  That vain look is most piercing.  For what are thou, son of man?  A puff of smoke, wisp of air, dust That lingers but for a moment  And vanishes without trace.  Why do you now risk His wrath?  And court His just fury?  Take this ash upon the brow  Bend your knee and look not up  But hasten to declare your fault  And wail in lamentation:  "Spare us, O master!  For our guilt is heavier  Than ever we ca...