Thursday, June 1, 2017

Rashid Pelpuo writes



BEYOND THE HORIZON 

Lone baobab tree
  Sick and dry,
  Out with leaves,
   Full branched
In the hot dry savannah
      Animals romping
          In full blast thirst,
Children not in school
Fighting for survival
The earth unkind
           Pale moist-less sky
           Looks down
           In helpless quiet

Human huts find solitude here
And there glows some semblance
Of greenery
With lone souls
Spending their time
Hankering for drops
Of water
And grains of food

   The gazing sun
      Shares itself benevolently
    Pouring heat
           And brightness lavishly
       With working men
    Taking shelter under
Leaky patches of sheds

Here on an African night
Yesterday’s children
Still gather
   At full moon
    Telling stories
      Of the brave ancestors
         And how they conquered
      Their fears
The smiles here are dry
And the giggles are hoarse

They tell stories of distant lands
In the remote
Parts of the earth
     Of how men enslave the gods
        And use their powers
     To fly and do duty to their egos
Swimming in rivers of wealth

This is in places beyond the horizon
Where the world ends  
And where life has a meaning
Beyond helplessness and despair

University of Cape Coast 1993, after I closely looked at a painting in a staff common room


Image result for baobab tree paintingsBaobab Noon -- Wendy Rosselli

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