- A poem by
AUGUSTINE ANYIMADU-AHENKAE

What time of the
day it is, I cannot tell, whether daylight, night or dawn
For how can I, when not long after daybreak darkness so
looms on our lawn
Darkness not fostered on us by the diurnal-nocturnal
interpositions of nature
But darkness plagued on us by the abysmally
disappointing discrepancies of our nature
Oh, these discrepancies, aha the discrepancies which
sets many a mind confused
As to where we really stand: exemplary, no different
from others, or just confused
SIKAMAN, SIKAMPOANO, ENO GHANA, ’tis for you that these
streams of tears I shed.

’Tis for you, mother that these raindrops of tears I
continually shed
For how did it happen, that the once shining beacon of
promise and hope
The dark-bright shining star of ABIBIMAN’s children,
the repository of ebon hope
With chromosomes and DNA to be Goliath by adolescence,
able to eat healthy food
Will still stunt at your growth, dwarfed at 56 by your
choices which do you no good
Your children worsen your plight, yet turn around to
blame you, forgetting their acts
Steeped in ignorance, myopia, nepotism, factionalisms,
tribalism, vengeful acts
Their sins I can't catalogue, too many are they, and
fill they me with sorrow, mother
Peace seek they, but justice they know not, PE ASEM
SURO ASEM, hmm, mother
Blinded to the truth, by narrow mindedness, ignorance,
sheer nepotism, selfishness
Quickly do they jump to crucify the innocent, truth
teller, pursuer of righteousness
Aiding, abetting the corrupt - “after all” say they,
“everybody would do the same”
Do they forget the Nkrumahs never built castles of
their own? That this is not a game?

A pessimist I am not, mother, but alas, how can I not
weep when my eyes see
Things that people around pretend not to see- or rather
they prefer not to see?
How can I be silent, mother, when the hypocrisy in OMAN
GHANA hurts so badly
When for their bellies your children take their
consciences to MAKOLA market so early
Short sighted, they see not beyond today; with short
memories, they forget too soon
But if only they could raise their heads above the
horizon
And, taking stock of their immense potential, see the
better future not far but present
That we can build as one, in pursuit of truth, justice,
fairness, honesty, love, consent!

Oh I see it, mother, I do see it from afar, its clouds
I see forming
A future not far but very near, years of prosperity
approaching
When SIKAMAN MMA have finally woken up from their deep
slumber
Put TWERDUAMPON on top of their agenda, stopped the
reckless plunder
Of their dear mother’s gold meant for the entire
household
I see a time of enlightenment, when in deliberations
emotions will allow truth to hold
Deleting ad
hominems, ad verecundiams, ad populums, old scores not cloud objectivity
When there will be an informed citizenry voting on
issues, abilities, no subjectivity
When democratic procedures can go through normal
processes without fear of turmoil
Oh that fear, that same fear that push your kids to aid
and abet the injustices that boil
Like pots of oil, the oil of our hopes, the hopes of
our dreams, the dreams of our lives
Mother, I see a silver lining, pray its conventional
rain of blessing falls in our times
So that, beholding with joy the beauty of ABIBIMAN’s filia Zion, the black-shining
star
When thou art robed in garment of truth, prosperity,
unity, from within and afar,
The words of thy morning song will be concordant to all
ears that hear, all, in unison
God bless our homeland Ghana, and make our nation great
and strong. Amen, Amen, Amen

- Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae, January
2013 (gtrabboni@yahoo.com)