Friday, March 2, 2007



TURBULENCE!

in the proverbial accord of hand

and glove, does the

sea flirt with you as

i watch from the plane.

- turbulence! -

land of Nkrumah, of gods and gold:

land of Ghana, wonsu saa biom.

your tears salted the sea once when

it beguiled you like a harlot, and

history taught your children to dread ships.

- turbulence! -

it is time for a new thought.

so, yes,

i like flying.

it gives me a mischievous anonymity and places me

above time, above place.

above history’s tears.

3 comments:

Annie said...

You manipulate the langugage(s) very well in this piece. I wish I could tell you what the atmosphere in Ghana was like, but from what I can tell so far, it's a little ambivalent. Sure there's going to be a huge nationwide party. Sure all sorts of things have hit the market like the anniversary cloth, which people have sewed into the most creative styles you can imagine. There is also apparently an anniversary hair weave... So basically all the elements of an "African party" are there (pardon my dabbling in essentialism): food, music, colour, dance.... But at the the same time I'm not sure how much people really care about independence itself. You would be surprised how many people would accept if the British came back today to colonize us again, especially if it means we will have British citizenship or adopt the pound as our currency...who is ever really independent?

Annie said...

Btw, may I put this poem on BL?

Chilla#1 said...

thanks for your comments... :)
yes, you may put it on BL as long as you cite it...let's discuss Ghana's independence soon