Tag: Life
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Do we really need all this time? —Opinion piece – 6
I have come to realize some thing that sounds a bit controversial, a point in my life where I am unlearning things I’ve made myself believe for so long. I used to be obsessed with longevity, always working out to stay fit, hoping to live longer (there is certainly nothing wrong with staying physically healthy).…
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lessons
hard lessons, written down for revisionsyet everyday it seems the lessons never endand writing seems futilemistakes too many to noteand the chance to apply lessons learnt never seems to comenew mistakes, new lessons everyday looks like circumstances are constantly updating themselves patterns too complex for me to figure the trickthrown away my lesson booksperhaps I…
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Sometimes
Sometimes I wonderwhy good things worth havingrequire so much work, so much effortsometimes when the going gets toughI envy the deadwho have no more worries to think aboutBut when times turn betterI look back and reflect on the good things I would have missed if I were no more
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They say you’re not good
they say you’re not goodthat you’re a hypocritea wolf in sheepskin they say you’re a disappointmentyou had so much potentialbut what are you today?a burdena watered seed that never germinatesyour gardeners are agingperhaps it’s strangers that will reap their toil but youwhat have you got to say about yourself?you’ve been silentsilently workingopening up your sores,…
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The best employer
The best employer is a challenging life, it pays well more than any other. A challenging life is unpredictable, full of uncertainties. It can fire you at any moment, it can announce your promotion when you least expect it. That’s why many employees there tender in their resignations day in day out. A challenging life…
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To those who never lived
How do babies of complicated pregnancies that necessitated an abortion feel? Do they ask God why others are given a chance to live while they are not? Is there a special planet for those little sweet souls to have a taste of life on Earth? Those aborted because their parents did not need them in…
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Born for a prince
When we are growing up, we have these grand illusions of what we wanna be, places we want to go and whom we want to marry. Many of these illusions are birthed and kept alive by movies we’ve watched, a favorite song, some picture in a newspaper, book or magazine, spiced by our imaginations. At…
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Movements and changes
Things are different here. I have left the city for a small town, what else could I expect? It takes time to make new friends, and if you’re a student in a higher level of education, it’s not easy finding someone on the same mental wavelength. There is this question of being “humble” and mingling…
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Believe whatever you like
Believe whatever you like. Time will test your convictions. Makes me wonder why we waste time advising and cautioning people. If their character, attitude, perspectives, resolve, or new path is a good or bad choice, time will tell. Perhaps the fact that time tests everything (buildings, rocks, mountains, love, hearts, loyalty, fashion, revolutions, empires, kingdoms,…
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When I grow up
Refuse to growYou’ll soon be glowingIn the discomforting lightOf stunted growthIt’s a harsh worldWhere its builders banishThose who stay backLay backWhile everything around them is changing What does adulthood look like?A mirage for many youthSoon the illusionThat being an adultBrings immense freedom without responsibilitiesFades like echoes in a forgotten dream It’s those who sit in…
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Married to the Game
I saw him everyday. In the mornings. Very early. Between 6 and 7am. The place I met him varied depending on the time I left the house. But so far as I stepped out around those hours, I surely bumped into him. He seemed to have no holidays, no breaks. Always in same clothes, soaked…
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Married to the Game
I saw him everyday. In the mornings. Very early. Between 6 and 7am. The place I met him varied depending on the time I left the house. But so far as I stepped out around those hours, I surely bumped into him. He seemed to have no holidays, no breaks. Always in same clothes, soaked…
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Village river
I remember the river in my village. It was on the outskirts of the village, behind stretches of thick bushes beyond which lied no man’s house. Our house was among the last leading out the village. From our house, you meet a shrine belonging to one uncle, and from the shrine was one old man’s…
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Gloomy night
I heard her. Splashing water into toilet seats. Kicking and knocking washroom doors to be sure no one was in there. Rolling mop buckets. I could smell the scent of detergents, and her grumbling. “So a human being really did this!” she blurted. I’ve always complained about the poor maintenance of the washrooms. Here was…
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Fascinating science
Mother came back from a hospital checkupShe said the white man is a wonderFor with a machine she knew not its nameThe doctor looked into her wombAnd saw all the babies she was going to have! The current one, and the rest to come years laterWe were stunnedHow could this be?Amazing the things happening in…
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Love finds you
She said love finds you. Perhaps it hasn’t found her, worthy, yet. We didn’t know why she wasn’t married, yet, at her age. We dare not ask. She wasn’t the approachable type. Besides, we wanted to live long. Didn’t want any tigress pouncing on our young lives. She was well advanced in years. And we…
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Strangers
We sometimes dream of one day making great connections, friendships that are deeply rewarding or important business contacts. In our mind, that ideal some day will be perhaps our first trip on a plane to a new land, a special dinner or some miraculous coincidence. We may even fantasize that during such special days we…
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The Games
It was a family fun day. But the arrangements under the canopies were not according to families. This was the Body of Christ so every person under each canopy was seen as family. I knew no one. Threading cautiously, I entered the venue, a park. Things were done differently in this new church. There was…
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The wedding at Baaltazar
“I paid 10,000 cedis to rent this place for the wedding reception.” the groom told me. “Wow! That’s a lot of money.” I remarked. In my mind, I was calculating how many months it would take me to raise that amount of money. At least 12, if I were determined to keep my salary whole…
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It’s an empty market
Hungry, I hurry to the marketAll along the way, I imagine the things I’ll buyOccasionally drifting off to think of other thingsI arriveAn empty market greets meHow?! Oh! I suddenly remember whyAs I look up to windows Of nearby hostelsAll shut, except a few squeaking in the gentle windsIt’s vacation today for the studentsDamn! Where…
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The comeback
Was she sorry for what she did? A question that constantly roamed Joe’s mind and wouldn’t settle. Where could she be now? He hoped time will teach her a lesson. Time was a fertile ground on which character took root and bore fruits – some a hundred fold, some fifty. He prayed her harvest will…
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The new place
For a moment I thought she wasn’t going to pick up. Perhaps she’s not around the phone. As I psyched myself to give up on dialing her number, I was picturing where her phone could be. Maybe in the kitchen or bedroom, and she’s probably on the compound, busy with some activity. Oh! And then…
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No filters
Each time I’m woundedThere has always been a tendencyTo shut myself inBut a covered plantCannot blossomEven if it doesWhat healthy growth could that be?That’s why I keep shining, I keep smilingEven when it’s difficult dilating my lipsThat’s why I keep doing goodEven when I’m paid ingratitude in returnSee the many things I would have missedHad…
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Bigger picture
I realized life is lived in fragmentsYou start something you like doingYou have no idea where it will leadBut you stick to it, day in day outGiving up along the linesWill deprive you the privilege Of seeing the bigger beautiful pictureOf how the little details came together Likewise you make new friendsFriends you may not…
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In search of bread
Early morning. I have somewhere urgent to go in about an hour and half. Back from my morning jogging routine. Very hungry. Forgot to take my wallet. Had to to go to the room to fetch it. The atmosphere in the room is different. It’s quiet and a little stuffy. Outside, there’s so much fresh…
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Under a mango tree
A street hawkerA young boyHe’s sitting under the shadeOf a mango treeHis feet, white with dustFrom wandering in the scotchy sunHis throat, parchedHe looks like he’s on the brinkOf giving upPerhaps one of those boysFrom the northIn the south, in searchOf a better lifeBetter livingWhatever might have pushed him hereIs causing him to now reconsiderHow…
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Suspense
Did you ever have to wait for something, in suspense, wondering the outcome? You wished you had some superpowers to get quick answers, quick results, instant response to what you sought. It can make you imagine things. You picture being denied what you are seeking, you imagine the pain, the loss, the shame, the hurt.…
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Confessions
I’ve learnt to laughAt my mistakesTo share my dark momentsAnd downfallsI’ve learnt to admit my flawsAnd to say sorryEven to those who offended meNo grudgewill become a stumbling blockTo my growthWhat is lifeWithout awkward momentsTo reflect on and laughWhat is the essence of livingWithout lonely daysTo look back on and sighThat is why I’ve made…
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Life humbles the young and foolish.
I knew a lady who operated a bar right behind my window. “If you make a complaint at the police station, they will shut it down. It’s against the law to set up a noisy business where people live.” a friend told me one day when he came to visit. The landlord overheard him but…
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Tips for runners
You will rise one day. And when you do, people will envy you. They won’t remember your sleepless nights, days of starvation, days you’ve been broke. All they will see, will be the comfort that seemed to have come to you so easily and how disadvantaged they are, to just sit and stare. Not all…
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You are going somewhere
Tomorrow has brighter opportunities for you than today has, but tomorrow is less forgiving of your mistakes than today is. With time, you meet better and more influential friends. Certain selling out you did in your past, some nasty words that occasionally slip from your mouth in anger, learn your lessons and bury here, today,…
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Recycled Clown
Mistakes are like unplanned pregnancies. The womb does not discriminate which child to contain and which one to reject on the basis that it was by accident. The womb gives equal care to all because whether by accident or by choice, every unborn child has the potential to grow into a full human, without any…
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Odessa – Chapter 1: Cold war
The prophet was arriving soon. The living room was already full of family members. And friends. A few church members were standing outside. And Djhaké had gone to get some extra chairs. Dabali was in the corridor, peering through a cut in the window at the guests in the living room. He had no gift…
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A bullet
Envy, hardened into a bullet, silenced the voice you and I heard so often on the radio. It was nobody’s business that he grew up an orphan in a ghetto, wondering what it meant to have a father and a mother. It never mattered to anyone the struggles that punctuated his rise to fame. Now…
Diary of a Wanderer 