Tag: write

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OF LOOKING FOR, FINDING AND BEING A HOME

Life is a journey and we are all born lost.

We are all looking to find our place in this world.

We are all looking for our paths home.

Our spirits easily connect with certain people.

These people are our tribe.

Our souls are at peace in certain places.

These places are our habitat.

Our minds are ignited when we do some things.

These things are our calling.

These people, places and things so we can be the best versions of ourselves.

Yet, these people, places and things are not our homes.

You are your home.

And until we know ourselves, that home will only be a place to stay and not a place to live

May we live.

May we not get lost looking in the wrong places.

May we find our paths.

May we not get lost looking for the wrong people.

May we not become homeless trying to be homes for people.

May we find our tribe.

May we not get lost looking anywhere except within us.

May we not lose ourselves trying to find others.

May we find ourselves.

May we all  find our way home at the end of the day.

May we not stop loving ourselves trying to love other people.

May we find a mental, emotional, spiritual and physical balance to be our best selves.

May we find the courage and resolve to remain true to it.

May we look within ourselves and find Home.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

SWAN SONG

It’s been a few days and I still can’t mourn.

I can’t accept that you’re still not a call away.

It’s not that I called or texted you enough but still.

I wish I could and that must count for something.

I will never forget the sound of your mother crying.

I know that sound is what pure pain sounds like.

I will never forget your father’s deafening silence.

I know that’s what a broken heart sounds like.

They say you were unconscious the whole time.

You didn’t suffer. That must count for something.

I really hope you make it through the pearly gates.

You were on your way to church when it happened.

I know nobody is perfect but that must count right.

I am sorry but I don’t want to be at your funeral.

Please forgive me but I am just not strong enough.

I can’t watch your casket lowered six feet down.

The person who hit your car barely got a scratch.

He was in a hurry to witness his first child’s birth.

The baby survived and I guess that counts right.

Countless times I have told myself it can’t be real.

You cannot be dead. It must all be an elaborate lie.

It’s hard to imagine you with anything but a smile.

It’s hard to imagine the world without your light.

I wish I could say the world would never forget you.

I can’t speak for everybody but I know I never will.

Until we meet again, Rest In Peace

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

QUICKSAND

Tracing pain along both of our jagged hearts.

That’s the thin line between love and hate.

And you know it’s filled with quicksand so if we stay too long we’ll only sink deeper still.

So as hard as it is we’re better off going our separate ways.

Let’s not linger too long and let the pain permanently stain us .

Let’s dry our eyes before the tears completely erode our sanity.

Let’s let each other loose before we lose ourselves.

It was great while it was good but this is goodbye.

We both see that after a while this didn’t feel right.

So best to gather the pieces of whatever is left and move on because it seems like all we bring each other now is heartbreak.

I keep repeating myself over and over again just to buy more time.

See I don’t wish for us to end, not this way anyway,

but if wishes were horses then lovers would ride.

Lastly, I wish I could say it will all be better soon but we both know Cupid poisons his arrows.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

Featured

HARMATTAN CHILD

Harmattan Child

You were born on a cold august night

On a thin piece of cloth, in a lorry park, in the big city

But your seeds were sown in December

On a farm, by a stream, in the village

The dust from the Sahara carried lust into young lovers’ eyes

Its humid in the harmattan just like it was  between their legs

If you didn’t come knocking it would have been their little secret

The gods and the fates have a twisted sense of humour

It was the stigma more than the pregnancy that made her leave

When you don’t want to be seen, one goes where there are too many eyes

The anonymity of the big city came with struggle

Despite the severe malnutrition, she survived your birth

she lived long enough to see your first steps

She saw his eyes staring back at her

She left you to the streets when you were only seven

She was strong but cholera was stronger

Your body riped so young

He lured you with comfort

He gave you a roof over your head and filled you belly

He made you try to uproot his unwanted seed before harvest

You never lived to see another harmattan

You and your unripe fruit were both buried in the June

May you and your seeds fall on more fertile soil in the next life

Harmattan Child

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

2 SPOONS OF COCOA POWDER WITH LOTS OF MILK, AND NO SUGAR

She watches till the vapor no longer rises from the cup

2 spoons of special cocoa powder with milk but no sugar just how she likes it

The bitterness has grown on her after years she spends gulping double portions alone in the kitchen

At this point she doesn’t even know why she still bothers anymore

She has come to accept the ritual now and does it more for herself than for him

Her husband doesn’t come back home on Fridays but she glances at the clock out of habit

She empties the cup into the back of her throat and  feels it trickle down into her empty stomach

She is on that new  diet everybody is talking about and her ribs are starting to show

She traces the wrinkles on her face along which show an age she has not reached yet

She barely recognizes his foreign wife now

Somehow her name is too much for their forked tongues to wrap around

She never should have followed her heart here but shame keeps her from going back

She has come a long way even if it proved to be the wrong way

She can already hear her mother say ‘I told you so’

 She still has the empty pride that comes with having his ring, children and surname

At least his girlfriends and mistresses don’t have those yet

She has given up trying to figure it whatever he sees in them that she doesn’t have

She learned their language, her accent is almost gone now and her Jollof isn’t bad either

Nail polish covers the black fingernail she sacrificed to fufu

She has always left him barely able to walk in the morning

But it has all never been enough for him and his family

Her pronunciation will always a little off

Maybe her blood is different but the mosquitoes here don’t seem to notice

She turns the lights out in the kitchen and proceeds to complete her nightly routine

She reaches for the unmarked bottle of special soap and spreads it carefully

It tickles her skin as the chemicals dig in but she kneads it in around the knees and ankles

The melanin lingers stubbornly in those places so she he has to remind him to get more

They aren’t cheap but he was the one who initiated and insists on all this

He  wants her skin looking like 2 spoons of cocoa powder with lots of milk, and no sugar

Just how he likes it.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

U + I = ?

U + I = ?

Your parents say it’s against the statistics

Our tribal affiliations don’t have a common multiple

To them our love might be rocket science but

I have a theorem

I’m tired of us being a variable

Why don’t we make us a constant

I don’t mean to be improper like a fraction

but accept my heart like a hypothesis

I like lying parallel to you

Let’s intersect at acute angles

If we meet at the right angles

Our love will never slope like a hypotenuse

Sine here opposite my aorta

I’ll sine right adjacent your vena cava

Run your finger along my perimeter

You’ll discover the area of each centimeter

I don’t know Y you should find your X’s

They will never love you > than I do

Please don’t divide your attention

Don’t subtract any of the affection

Don’t factor our differences

Let’s find our common denominators

Let’s come together and multiply

You plus me is an irreversible balanced equation

You plus me is equal to infinity

You plus me is always equal to love

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

DEAR GOD I COME TO YOU A SINNER

Dear God I come to you a sinner. I’ll keep this short because I know you have many children. Lord, I know you see all my sins and transgressions but I am here to confess them all the same. I know we haven’t spoken in a while but I hope you understand. I am ashamed to admit that lately, I only go on my knees and call your name while strangers make my toes curl and my eyes roll back. Please forgive me. I stole from your temple, which is my body, and sold it to the lowest bidder. You know it goes beyond a weakness of my flesh. Father, I honoured the sabbath and i tried to keep it holy but when i came to your house to draw closer to you, the pastors charged me a fee and told me the key to redemption was letting them anoint me between my legs . Forgive me for I yielded and touched your anointed. If thunder should strike me right now, I hope you let me into heaven. I know I am not worthy to abide with you but my demons and I have lived a hell of a life here already. Speaking of life, please forgive me for all those I ended.  All the little angels whose wings i clipped before they could ever fly. Please let them understand that it was me who was neither worthy nor ready for show them how to spread their wings. I hope my prayer reaches you. If Mary of Nazareth won’t read it to you, I know Mary Magdalene will. Got to go now. I’ll talk to you later. Thank you for listening. Amen.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

MY HEART IS NOT YOUR PUPPET

You want me to sprinkle pieces of my heart on paper.

So you can rearrange them until you get an image which shows my heart still beats for you.

You want me to open my mind and let it leak on to this canvas.

So that you can see if there are parts of you which still linger.

You want me to gather my thoughts and emotions and set them on fire.

Just so you can inhale the smoke and tickle your nose

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

LOST IN INCONSISTENCIES

Sometimes

I feel like burying myself within myself

Work home work home for two weeks straight

Yes sometimes i feel like reaching out to connect

but I’d rather be full of myself than make a fool of myself

I’d rather feel my pain through lyrics on the radio

I’d rather play my own strings and make my toes curl

Sometimes

I feel like doing some social things to connect the dots

Hangout with my friends and maybe make some more

For what is life without sharing it with kindred spirits

That way if shit hits the fan I won’t have to smell it alone

I’d rather be with the squad or be boo’d up every night

Late nights wine drunk and wrapped in some arms

Sometimes

I can’t decide what i really want

 I want this, I want that or maybe something else entirely

I want it all and I want to have all at the same time

It’s rare that this happens so often

I’m consistently lost in inconsistencies

Sometimes

I feel like burying myself within myself

Work homework home for two weeks straight

Yes sometimes i feel like reaching out to connect

but I’d rather be full of myself than make a fool of myself

I’d rather feel my pain through lyrics on the radio

I’d rather play my own strings and make my toes curl

Sometimes

I feel like doing some social things to connect the dots

Hangout with my friends and maybe make some more

For what is life without sharing it with kindred spirits

That way if shit hits the fan I won’t have to smell it alone

I’d rather be with the squad or be boo’d up every night

Late nights wine drunk and wrapped in some arms

Sometimes

I can’t decide what i really want

 I want this, I want that or maybe something else entirely

I want it all and I want to have all at the same time

It’s rare that this happens so often

I’m consistently lost in inconsistencies

I’m consistently lost in inconsistencies

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

MY LOVE

We both attended the same school, my love

We both stayed at the same hostel,  my love

We both stopped the same taxi, my love

We both were headed to the same class, my love

We both blushed as we tried to open the same door, my love

We both decided to move into the same room, my love

We both used the same toothbrush sometimes, my love

We both agreed condoms just don’t feel the same, my love

We both used the same rusty razor sometimes, my love

We both had someone that we said was just a friend, my love

We both cherish the golden memories of those days, my love

We both couldn’t stop crying the day you proposed,  my love

We both couldn’t stop smiling as we exchanged our vows, my love

We both couldn’t believe it as the doctor told us the good news, my lov

We both couldn’t believe it as the doctor told us the  bad news, my love

We both wept for our unborn children who faced the same doom, my love

We both wept for ourselves who were the agents of this plague, my love

We both felt guilty for thinking the other was the person guilty , my love

We both don’t know for sure how or why it happened, my love

We both don’t know what to do now, my love

We both got it now,  my love

We both tested positive, my love

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

CUPID vs AGAPE

You want a God-like love

And why not?

You deserve it

God loves you

And you love Him too,

but you can’t tell me you love Him as much as He loves you

And how can you?

You are only human

God loves me

And I love Him too

but you can’t ask me to love Him as much as He loves me

And how can i?

I am only human

God loves you

And I love you too,

but you can’t ask me to love you as much as He loves you

And how can i?

I am only human

God loves me

And you love me too,

but i can’t ask you to love me as much as He loves me

And how could you?

You are only human

God wants your soul

Cupid aimed for your heart

And you’re stuck in between

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

BALANCE

I used to live life on the edge but lately i have been losing my balance. I heard life is like ballet so I have been trying to stay on my toes but lately its harder to maintain my balance. They say he who is down fears no fall so why is it that even at rock bottom i am still afraid of losing more balance. This should be the prime of my life but you can’t be out there living your best life with zero balance. They say life is full of ups and downs like a seesaw and a better half can help you balance but you can’t even fall in love if you have zero balance. My heart says left but my mind says no so i am trying to find a point where both are balanced. I tried inebriation but I can’t walk straight when I’m  drunk because alcohol makes you lose your balance. Besides, you can’t  keep the habit up with zero balance. Wait. You mean i need some balance to find balance? There must be some kind of error because that equation isn’t balanced.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

THE WHORE’S PRAYER

 I’ll keep this short before my clothes draw frowns and side eyes from the congregation. Lord, I know you see all my sins and transgressions but I am here to confess them all the same. I know we haven’t spoken in a while but you see everything that’s been going on so I know you understand. I am ashamed to admit that lately, I only go on my knees and call your name while a stranger makes my toes curl and my eyes roll back. I am nothing but a thief. Please forgive me. I stole from your temple, which is my body, and sold it to the highest bidder. I did it more out of hunger than just the desires of my flesh so I hope you understand. Father, I honoured the sabbath and I tried to keep it holy but when I came to your house to draw closer to you, the pastors charged me a fee and told me the key to redemption was between my legs . Please forgive them and please forgive me too for I defiled your temple and if thunder should strike me right now, I know St. Peter wouldn’t let me through the pearly gates. I worry about that a lot so can you please talk to him for me? Please tell him to let me in. I know I am not worthy but i have lived a hell of a life here already. Speaking of life, please forgive me for all those I ended.  All the little angels whose wings i clipped before they could ever fly. Please let them understand that it was me who was neither worthy nor ready for them to soar with me.  Speaking of darkness, even as i return to display my wares in the glow of traffic lights, I hope my prayer reaches you. If Mary of Nazareth won’t read it to you, i know my sister Mary Magdalene will. Got to go now. I’ll talk to you later. Thank you for listening. Amen

GALAXY 8521

Day number 9743 of the Alliance or Threat Analysis Project

This research is being recorded for training and record purposes

The specimen is a small spiral galaxy from the outer rims of sector 96743

The galaxy seems to be mostly dormant but still steadily expanding

The solar density is not exceptional with only about 200 billion suns

An organic scan reveals some primitive lifeforms on a tiny planet

The habitat is facilitated by a fragile balance of perspiration and temperature

Optimum conditions for life among overheated, frigid and noxious planets

The dominant species has rapidly expanded to all corners of the planet

This rapid expansion has caused resource depletion that is killing the planet

Estimated time before resource scarcity causes extinction is 874 of their years

They seem to be sentient enough to start searching for other survivable planets

They have not yet developed the technology to achieve interstellar space travel.

The closest planet suitable for life is 2.5 million light years away on galaxy 9741

At the current rate of development, their extinction is inevitable without mutation

The planet’s inhabitants are not developed enough to be a threat or an ally

The specimen is to be classified as insignificant.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

MARTIAN PARLIAMENT

This is ridiculous! You should be thoroughly ashamed to even send such vile brain waves to our antennae . It is the year 2187 for crying out loud! The idea that we should continue to spend enormous amounts of already scarce resources on our planetary hologram in the name of preventing species, which some members of this leadership have been caught describing as  primitive creatures, to even gaze on us is highly insensitive .Those resources are better spent on improving interplanetary relations with all planets in our solar system or solving the many problems we have internally as a planet. Do not even attempt to tell me that for years Earth has benefited from our technological and industrial knowledge because for decades we Martians practically leached from the resources of that rich planet. The hypocrisy in saying that Mars will not suffer what you call attempted colonization from mere earthlings should be grounds for your dismissal from this council as it brings shame to all 52 sector representatives of our planet. It is bad enough that we have to deal with the poorly handled situation with the Neptunians that some members of this leadership seem to be so fond of and not to mention the war hungry dictator in Venus who is, as we speak, is probably building a death star to obliterate our planet. We obviously already have too much on our  plates! To rub your antennae together and tell us that their leaders of Earth are fully to blame and that if they were less corrupt and enforce population control measures, then they would be much better off is simply ignorant! It is highly hypocritical for us to spend so much resources keeping others out of our planet when we have continuously armed our space ships with ion cannons, filled them with countless Martians, plus our industrial waste as bonus, and sent them , often illegally and without provocation, to other planets as far as the outer galactic rims to oppress the sentient creatures there for their resources. We should all bend our antennae down in shame and fix our table and then extend it to accommodate more rather than to keep adding longer legs to it so that others cannot have access to it. We should know and do better.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

The Ark

I looked out at the now almost unrecognisable planet below

Remembering how it used to be so full of life and so beautiful

The jets hummed peacefully in contrast with the violence below

I wondered if this was the last i would ever see of my home planet

In the ship itself there was the heavy silence of screaming emotions

A dozen or so of us who had been lucky to pass the health screening

Some still shed tears for those they had been forced to leave behind

It was hard to tell which tears were for sorrow and which were of joy

We were the chosen ones who were to populate the closest viable planet

We hoped to reach one before the battery cells or the supplies run out

Five years ago nobody could even have a nightmare about any of this

Everybody had different theories about the actual origins of the virus

Maybe it was some government experiment or punishment from a diety

Either way, it didn’t matter to the billions who suddenly dropped dead

There were no symptoms, no incubation period, no patterns and no cure

The unpredictable silence is what drove people into panic the most

No systems to detect nothing meant no feeling of safety anywhere

The effect was much like rats when the smoke rushes into their holes

At the end of the day, all that was left was this mismatched band

The old ship rattled violently as it fought to escape earth’s atmosphere

 It ferried the last hope of humanity into the stars.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

ILLUSION

This must be some kind of illusion

Pull rabbit out of the hat

I fell in love and hit my head

I don’t mean to upset you.

But I’m so paranoid

I have been here before

People said that they loved me

But only for a moment

Then they left me to bleed

If you really love me

Please don’t break my heart

If you really care for me

Please don’t wet my eyes

It’s not that I don’t think I deserve it

It’s that I don’t know if you deserve me

It’s not that I don’t love myself enough

It’s that I doubt you can love me enough

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

The Plug

The irony of our story is that we first met through the plug

So i guess it was no surprise that the connection was fully charged

It’s hard to tell if it accelerated that fast because it was fueled by the drugs

You told me the only way to reach your heart was via your veins

You said everything else comes and goes so chasing it is only in vain

We knew better but we couldn’t know cupid had injected love into our veins

You kept my eyes dilated; your love is the strongest drug i ever had

I swear every time our lips locked, my eyes closed and my soul opened

Your musk alone is an overpowering fragrance but i breathe it in deep baby

Any and all contact with you is enough to make me high enough to go crazy

Nothing that strong could be good; love should be illegal when overdosed

So why did it feel so good every time you went swimming in my bloodstream

Why did you end it? Why would you withdraw cupid’s needle and throw it away?

Now i am in withdrawal. I’m stuck in a safe place where i keep our memories

But i can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t breathe, i think i need instant rehabilitation

I’d do anything in my power to pause, turn back and turn off the hands of time

I gave you all my time and energy and now i am in dire need of a recharge

It’s hard to tell if the plug was the hero or the villain in our sad love story

That’s all we are now.  Just used syringes and another typical, sad love story

The irony of the story is that i know we’ll meet again through the plug

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

Write Me A Poem

She said babe if you really love me write me one of your poems

Don’t tell me your usual bullshit about not being inspired

If I can ignite your heart and your loins why not your brain too

Please don’t write me your usual sad stuff, don’t kill my character

Both your lips and the roses they taste like are red

Both my feelings and the violets I got you are blue

I know you know I have and will always be in love with you

So weave pretty words to show you also do still love me too

Make sure you put my name clearly in there too

Let everybody see your sacrifice of love is offered to my altar

I was there before all these others ever even knew of you

Most importantly,  I am here still

It took me 13 pages of crumpled paper

But think I finally have words even remotely worthy of you

I weaved the ink with strands from my heart and my brain

Please don’t take them too seriously but not too lightly either please

Both my heart and the flames bursting from them are red

Both the ink and the emotions behind them are blue

I know you know I do now and will always love you

I can never weave words as pretty as you

We will have the same name so they’ll  all know

They’ll know to which shrine i offer this libation

May we never forget that our best days were with each other

Most importantly, may we never forget to live in the present

Nana Obeng-Koranteng 2017

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

You like to self-destruct.

You like to listen silently and hear her voice drone on every day.

You like to taste her ebony skin and the vanilla between her legs.

You like to make her arch her back as she slowly moans your name.

You like to play pretend and imagine that she is exclusively yours.

You like to tell yourself that you’re not ready to make her truly happy.

You like to imagine that it’s only because of the money and not foolish insecurities.

You like to lie to yourself that losing her wouldn’t hurt you too much.

You like to pretend that even if you catch feelings, you can control them.

You like to assure yourself that’s it’s better for both of you as just friends.

You like to deny yourself of all the nice things and the good people.

You like to close your mind’s eye and only see flaws, yours and hers.

You like to appease people by saying that it’s not their fault but yours.

You like to light the fuse, sit back and watch your happiness explode.

You like to pretend you walk away from the fire unburnt and unscarred.

You like to self-destruct.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG: @nanaobengkoranteng

Papa loved Aku the most

Papa loved Aku the most

He would do anything for his precious daughter

He would pound her face whenever she did anything wrong

He would sneak into her room and pound her as everybody else slept

One day she had enough and pounded his head till his skull cracked like a dry coconut

He left us with nothing but she inherited a beautiful baby

Now she stands at traffic lights and smiles for men who remind her of him.

Some even pay in Pounds.

Nana Obeng-Koranteng

IG  : @nanaobengkoranteng