POP CULTURE

“Shades of signification”

Paint a picture of me…

With the brush strokes

Of your imagination;

Honor Picasso-

Warhol – Monet…..

And other genies of

Your hallowed brood:

Collate….distort-

Morph my contours

To suit the affectations

Of Madison Avenue;

Take liberties….brand me

Codify…….signify,

While I hold my pose.

But don’t ask me who I am

Or where the hell I was born…

Let the shades of your motivation

Fill in the ---------- BLANKS.

Author: Hope Kalé Ewusi ©

Bantu princess of my sugarcane dreams

Cocoa beauty dipped in honey

Benign spirit of my sacred garden-

Who painted you so well?

Protagonist of sleep-scape novellas..

Behind fish net curtains I peek-

Watching you flaunt your wares…

Visual serenade – hmm sweet banter!

When you talk

You sing;

When you walk

You talk!

“Makandi” cakes in measured gait

Dance in cadence to the call

Of village sign posts….

Wotéké – Wonganga!

Bwasa – Likombé

Ah sacred pageant; sensual carnival.

 

And the men, oh how they gape!

Giggles and chuckles wrapped in adulation-

Each man, his essential self tabulates

The dimensions of your revered essence-

Sister, daughter, mother – friend;

Night-nurse, wife – soul confidant

Would smooth out the contours

Of his esteemed African manhood.

Need I wonder why

Or should I worry why-

Leeches and scoundrels seek your grace?

Worry why foreign legions crave your mystique?

Yes…yes ……hell yes!

For the lessons of history I’ve imbibed-

Elmina Castle – Goree Island

I must avenge with Shaka zeal

Cos you are mine – mine!

My cocoa beauty – dipped in honey…

Bantu princess of my sugar-cane dreams-

Earth goddess – my mojo hand

My oh my!

But the question remains:

Who painted you so well?

And if I had a clue, I wouldn’t tell

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi ©

SHADOW DREAMS

On half a dollar, or one a day

Slum darlings of the wretched earth

Feign at best a fare to eek,

Be though blessed with artisan flair,

Existential folly yet confounds their lot.

For to seek meaning in such lowliness

Where contrarian biddings beyond their lays

Conspire to thwart the spirit’s ascent,

Is to court fatal instincts, or dare to hope.

So to the alien deity cast their gaze

His graven cameo, cold and mute….

Aloof and numb to sorrow’s beck

Dim is faith but not their mirth.

Yet at passion’s chidings, spirits alight

By innate yearnings to rise and thrive

Alas per fate or fable ruse, fervor wanes

Like frail trade-winds battering short

The ballot swings – their dreams differed.

Still on the dime, the world-beat throbs

Capricious heart strings strumming greed

And the lords of the manor, they rave with glee

Deaf to the wailings beyond their ports

While tortured presses bleed the grapes

                           

Hope Kalé Ewusi ©

From The Wells Of Knowing

Some exalt the hidden hand

And thank the stars above

For who or what their lot may be;

Life they claim is divine ordained-

That nothing that is, or ever could be

Is to chance, or happenstance.

Birds seek southern climes

In accord with changing times;

And sea turtles in time do seek

Sands of birth to spurn their brood

Just like the sun’s recurrent arc.

I’m neither turtle, bird nor sun,

Schooled in routine manifestation.

Within my chest, there beats a heart

That fuels my thoughts, my agile mind.

Anchored though to earth beneath

Yet consigned to budge or stay...

 Fortune beeds , and the will impels.

While seconds anxiously each day uncoil

And cross roads loom hither and yon….

I and I my thoughts confounded thus

From the wells of knowing must imbibe;

For a lone ranger I am, my cross to bear-

With a willing soul, my constant carriage 

 I pray with stalwart zeal my load to bear

From shifting sands onto the finish line.

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi©

Embedded  images are from Mali.....featuring the Timbuktu Scrolls and an ancient learning center

      TODAY

“candid reflection”

I love you "today"

For your transient bliss

That my heart has set at ease;

and as I face all that would unfold

Each tick I hope is speckled gold.

Thank you "today""

For your promise of tomorrow

Unsealed though it may be;

I’d take my odds all by the throw

For the blessings of  yesterdays, I hope

My cart would stir all thru’ the maze.

 

I’m hopeful yet often perturbed

by stagnant hours caught in frames-

with bungee seconds stretched wide…..

pliant-defiant – your wayward son,

unhinged- untamed by scornful eyes.

Charged though my card this day

With notes of dreams deferred…..

I wear my crown without regret.

But should you "Today" your grace

enshroud with cloaks of indignation

I’d loathe and shun you so – and wish….

upon a cloud that it rains on you.

Author: Hope Kalé Ewusi

BALLAD OF THE EXILED SUN

Oh morning sun why wait so long

And let the somber veil persist?

Our promise ribbon adorns the sky

That with the fondest love was sealed;

I’m waiting along the country mile

Oh morning sun to see you smile….

Don’t tarry long, don’t tarry long.

Oh mother, mother, mother dear!

I’ve heard your whispers in the rain

Your heaving bosom knows but pain;

A friendly token is on its way

To chase the shadows from your heart-

Come Sunday, my loving rays, the veil will lift...

Just hold on for another night.

Time is a river that runs its course

Heedless to haste or lingering sighs;

And breath is like mist-akin to rain

That swells the river’s earthy womb-

Who to the sea lends maternal favor….

Oh mother, mother, mother dear

Like the river, your sun will find your face

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi ©

FIRST DAY OF SPRING


It's the first day of spring    
Oh what joy it brings!
So long winter blues...
Hello morning dew;
Blues skies,grey skies & scattered showers
First the sprouts and then the flowers
Blooming along the country mile.
If this would last for just a while
I'd find little to moan about-
For what goes around, comes around:
Seasons come and seasons go....
Simple truth every body knows.

By 
Hope Kalé Ewusi ©