WORDS

They lubricate

Rusty hinges

Of broken conversation;

Mow the tongue

Of  stale verbiage.

Words-

Inspire thoughts

That spun action

Or cast spells

Indiscriminately;

Speak softly-

Cordially to friend

   Or foe

For words my dear

May hurt or cheer.

Hope Kalė Ewusi ©

KEG OF MYSTERY

KEG OF MYSTERY

Above the hatches the regent retreats

His dwindling radiance in vain resists

The taunting twilight’s beknighted sway

Who descending, casts abroad in shades of gray

A call to sundry folks their darling steeds to rein.

While some hearts may gloat with striven gain

Those that brood and sag beneath life’s strain

Pray they find in night’s alluring scroll

A friendly shawl to shield their souls.

Still there is a keg of mystery yet untold-

How greenery sprouts, and flower buds unfold

And tendrils leap the void to grab a stake-

Deep in the night for goodness sake

While yet we sleep, and dream of morning’s wake.

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi©

50 Life Secrets and Tips

1. Memorize something everyday.Not only will this leave your brain sharp and your memory functioning, you will also have a huge library of quotes to bust out at any moment. Poetry, sayings and philosophies are your best options.
2. Constantly try to reduce your attachment to possessions.Those who are heavy-set with material desires will have a lot of trouble when their things are taken away from them or lost. Possessions do end up owning you, not the other way around. Become a person of minimal needs and you will be much more content.
3. Develop an endless curiosity about this world.Become an explorer and view the world as your jungle. Stop and observe all of the little things as completely unique events. Try new things. Get out of your comfort zone and try to experience as many different environments and sensations as possible. This world has so much to offer, so why not take advantage of it?
4. Remember people’s namesso that they feel appreciated and for your own future benefit when you want something from that person. To do this, say their name back to them when they introduce themselves. Then repeat the name in your head a number of times until you are sure you have it. Continue to use their name in conversation as much as possible to remove any chance of forgetting it. If you’re still having trouble, make up a rhyme about their name: “Dan the Man” or “Natalie flatters me.”
5. Get fit!It’s ridiculous to think that we have one body, one sole means of functioning, and people are too lazy to take care of themselves. Fit bodies lead to better health, confidence and more success with romantic endeavors. I’d say those are 3 very good reasons to get in shape.
6. Learn to focus only on the present.The past is unchangeable so it is futile to reflect on it unless you are making sure you do not repeat past mistakes. The future is but a result of your actions today. So learn from the past to do better in the present so that you can succeed in the future.
7. Even more specifically, live in THIS moment.Even 10 minutes ago is the past. If you live purely in this moment you will always be happy because there is nothing wrong in this split-second.
8. Smile more often.Whenever you get a grin on your face, your brain is releasing serotonin, the happy hormone. Smiling is the natural way to force yourself to be happy. Many people even smile for five minutes straight in the morning to get themselves in a great mood for the day. It is a very powerful tool that is utilized less and less as we grow older and need happiness more than ever. Just remember that while happiness leads to smiles, smiles also lead to happiness.
9. Drink water.Hydration is tremendously important for overall health. Soda has absolutely ZERO nutritional content; it’s like pouring a punch of sugar and syrup into your cup. Instead, fill it with life-replenishing water. It may taste plain at first if you’re coming off of a heavy soda-drinking streak, but you’ll soon find yourself addicted to it. 10 glasses per day is optimal, how many have you been getting lately?
   
10. Don’t take life so seriously!Learn to laugh at the little things and this whole “existence” thing will be a whole lot easier. Be amused by your mistakes and failures and be thankful that you learned your lesson and won’t mess up like that again. And most importantly do things that you enjoy! Life is not strictly business, it can be mixed with pleasure.
11. Think positive thoughts.When you find yourself thinking a negative thought, stop it immediately by any means necessary. Slap yourself in the face, yell something positive at the top of your lungs or jump up and down. Do whatever it takes to get back to a positive mindset as such is essential for continual happiness and success.
12. Read books.No explanation needed.

LUNAR BLOSSOM

The moon is ripe, lodged in my hands;

Gone now are the days of barren soles.

That which was forgotten now reads the sand

Where at the gilded altar now I stand

I watch the dawn embrace my varnished soul.

The moon is ripe, cupped in my hands..

A thousand bolts can't thwart the wand

And set me adrift, still lost in the shoal.

That which was forgotten, now reads the sand-

But how will they know or understand

That my broken shards now form a whole?

Still the moon is ripe, clasped in my hands:

Let minstrels prance and strike up the band-

For my errant darts have struck their goal.

That which was forgotten, now reads the sand

And the street is raving about my new brand...

My song on every lip - my name on every scroll

For the moon is ripe, lodged in my hands

And that which was forgotten, now reads the sand.

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi

                 PAIN
   
 

That which at a moment's pulse

Would thwart the will, and bid it

Wish or seek the tyrant's hand

While tinsels and plums rot in vain.

Who feels it knows - when smiles turn to brine...

And  scowls  the anguished port would drape

Where from the sun in haste had set  adrift .

Of different shades and tones confirmed:

The sudden stitch - the jab - the stab.....

The lazy rodent gnawing the trunk!

Oh how the maiden she buckles so

While the fruit of life she bears,

And the crowns of men anointed thus

With the load of daily cares!
Though some the bewitching hand may rile-

For life's entangled web of woes,

The bane of such to one resorts,

Who at the creeper's behest, to sin conspired

And the evil eye forth no shame would know;

Her unyielding aspect, our constant foe

Rattling cages, bruising souls down to the bone.......

Our charms and potions she  rendered naught-

The vilest of which no peace accords!

Yet to the faithful succor prevails and hope abides

To all who the promised rapture await

When all that was written will come to pass.

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi ©

COMING OUT OF THE DARK　

I’ve plowed red earth
With the might of a dozen oxen….
Scattered my grains on glistening dew;
The reaper inquires in my stead-
How does one count to twelve….
When one is missing on the grid?
　
Dark nights and checkered dawns
Have I of lately known……
Danced on the razor’s edge,
Barely holding on-
What kept me from tipping?
　
The masquerade has come and gone...
And I too must move on;
Broken clay pots seldom mend….
So I’m picking up the drift woods
Of by gone tides;

　

I’ll make myself a happy bonfire
And feast on its crimson embers-
Its ashes on new trails I’d spread.
This token oblation …….
My slumbering cocoon quickens thus;
Brand new butterfly – watch me soar.　
　
By   Hope Kalé Ewusi ©
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                   PATIENCE

Great sentient muse, thy virtues we beseech

May we with temperance course through life

Not like the cold tempestuous sea-

That breaks and foam and curse in strife;

But through prayer and chastity be like Job

Who in temptation eschewed blasphemy.

What beauteous art thy hands have wrought….

Earth wind and fire at your behest

Did in time conceive such vaunted works

Of which with reverent due, our mouths attest.

Oh patience! Thou who from faith ensued;

Wring us all of impulsive strains -

That with forbearance, may we endure

With stalwart hope, the quest for eternal bliss.

 

                   By

         Hope Kalé Ewusi©

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LOVE’S PICKETS

Oh for such titillation

And sensual bliss-

Love’s elixir enlivening

Hearts of amorous beings

With arms entwined and curves

Aligned in serpentine pose…

Magic unfolds with rhythmic flair.

‘Tis of such that the poets rave

That where love’s pickets

Bind two hearts and flames alight

As from a homely hearth-

Songs of the lyre thrills the air.

But when love is spent….

Rancid and stale, it burns

With the sting of aged brine;

So take heed you feuding birds

And bid not one another gloom.

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi ©
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REFLECTIONS

                REFLECTIONS

“In The Shade Of A Pecan Tree”

Curious souls in trivial quest oft’ seek to know

By what design the rushing wind blows,

But in the throes of deeper contemplation

Oft’ ponder the meaning and nature of things.

Thus from reflection to illumination - triumph ensues

For to know is to seek and decode the sage’s brow.

Yet triumph, though sweet a serpentine bliss

Onto fallenness  and shades of blue must bow.

For loss, change-decay to life is bound,

Like an importunate foe courting our door.

Still not to the wise alone  such keenness is due.

If onto fatal instincts the laggard concedes,

Doomed are his sails when life’s gale tidings blow

Yet in life, hope abides to all who would accede.

By

Hope Kalė Ewusi ©
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LEASE OF LORE

Onto the seekers, he gave his word

As to knowledge – its accoutrements

That understanding begets responsibility-

the lease of lore.....

From which ensues opportunity

For the foolish mane so to shed.

Now hail you scions of Socrates

To whom his don is bequeathed;

Bid not your laurels beguile your wit

Nor dim your hunkering souls.

Yet if need of comic mirth

And your fancies so concur,

Crash the knit-wit blooper fair

And watch dupes misspell their names

Or auction off their heirlooms

For a spin of the Ferris wheel.

And you birthed not of haughty stock

The foregoing you should abhor-

For knowledge bears not

Fruits of condescension;

Let noblesse your foundling crowns adorn.

                                                  

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi ©

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FACES

Finding identity

In crowded places…

Each countenance flush

On frontal display;

Bearing contours of similitude

Yet never the same-

The one from another.

See the look of love…

Of anxiety – mighty dread

Caught in frames of fleeting spells;

Radiant smiles mocking

Gloom’s ugly scowls and eyes

Flush with stirring, reflecting humanity.

 

Scaling the spectrum

Of generational fervor,

The once cheery cherubic

Infant glow duly savored,

Yields to ascending years

Of youth’s chiseled flair.

And soon the sun setting

Fletches of mortality

Would each primal façade imbue

 Life defining impressions-

Fleshy folds – wise scrolls…..

Unique each, as the story it tells;

Faces bearing contours of similitude

Yet never the same, the one from another.

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi ©

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HISTORY TEACHES US NOTHING

The seeds of war
Lay dormant in the
Crucible of history...
Seething, breathing-
Waiting for the
Spring of discontent
For grapes of wrath to bear

And all across
God's green hectares
People of goodwill
Caught in the throes
Of the enterprise
Of commerce and politics
Awoke to the gloom and doom
Of bombs raining over Kosovo.



Beyond the premise
Of rational discourse
And intended tidings...
The cooing ditties
Of the lady dove
The vulture she lured
To the bounty of war.

Still in the rounding hours
I know, years and years hence
That future broods...
This fate would know
Like those of holocausts past-
Grim reminder that...
History teaches us nothing

By

Hope Kalé Ewusi©


In 1999 I, like many others, from the comfort of our living rooms, watched in horror as the war in Kosovo unfolded.The bombings.....the gore.....the share ugliness of war astounded me,I saw hails of bullets and bombs shattering lives - people scampering for shelter....there was hunger...there was pain - anguish and despair as people tried to make sense of their tattered lives.....and then there was the the palpable helplessness of the children of Kosovo - innocent victims of war.

This sight was deja vu - it evoked vistas of WW II - the holocaust and other wars before and after. It is stated somewhere that if we humans do not reckon with the lessons of history, we're doomed to repeat  our mistakes.In a moment of quiet contemplation, I wrote the aforementioned poem " History Teaches Us Nothing" inspired by the war on Kosovo. Prior to Kosovo was the Rwandan genocide and since Kosovo we have witnessed  massacres in Sierra Leone, Liberia ( captured in the movie Blood Diamond) and Congo.  We are currently witnessing the unraveling of Syria and the picture posted below attests once more the massacre of innocent children in Syria -a  grim reminder that history apparently teaches us nothing; What's going on?

         

    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 ©