Revolt - Aisha Nelson

cocked

cooked up in a cozy crazy corner somewhere
is another radical plot
to topple the people at the top
to jerk the common boat

but they forgot
that
whether we all knew
whether we all eschewed
the plot or not,
we’re all into it together
we all sink in together

thanks for our common complacent mediocrity
thanks for their lack of nothing but tact
thanks they turned and became and replaced
the very people they had toppled

so, yes,
long live the craze
long live unrest
long live distress
and
short live progress
short live us

yes,

short live us all!

6 comments:

Darko Antwi said...

For how long would an empty barrel be kept quiet? It shouldn't be that long, i think. Someone has to get it rolling though.

Ladies and gents, after eight months of my absence from OGOV, Aisha Nelson has uprisen against my silence, by her volcanic "Revolt".

For your information, may I say that I have not simply gone into hiding. I've been trying to give attention to three of six publications which Seaweed Books has sought to publish. The poetic brilliance of Ms Nelson should become one of the thousand reasons why Seaweed Books must remain committed to Ghanaian literature.

I might not be here every week to comment. A poem has to be really good to woo a voluntary comment from me. Things are changing. The casual is coming to a close. We are going professional. As part of the Seaweed Books' publication, the publisher is coming out with "Darko Antwi & Harold Abbey", an online review of books and audio. Until its maiden in November 2013, please find regular updates from Darko Antwi's facebook page.

By the way, Seaweed Books will not be taking single poem submissions. It has to be a book. A proper book! A book in distribution - but not a ten-copy print that cannot be found in bookshops across Kejetia. Most appropriately, we shall be dealing with publishers. Every review will be free of charge.

Welldone Aisha!

Thanks to you all.

Prince Mensah said...

A superb poem. A sweeping indictment against populism and its lack of ideas. Aisha exposes the continuum of ineptitude that the people who claim to bring change maintain after they get into power. As with most revolutions, change is actually a facade. Different faces with the same attitude to power. Change is just a catch word to evoke emotions from the gullible masses, who are complicit in the turbulence around them because

'whether we all eschewed
the plot or not,
we’re all into it together'

I love the splash of sarcasm in the lines

'long live the craze
long live unrest
long live distress'

Well done, Ms. Nelson. Keep the fire burning. You definitely have a knack for splendid writing. I look forward to more thought-provoking pieces from you. Kudos!

ImageNations said...

Interesting... reminds me somewhat of Egypt.

Rob Taylor said...

It's great to see some familiar faces back in the comment section of OGOV. Congratulations to Aisha for motivating everyone out of hibernation!

And congrats to Darko on all your progress at Seaweed Books. i wish you the best of luck going forward!

Darko Antwi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darko Antwi said...

Thank you Rob. OGOV and its team have been a force of inspiration to my start-up in publishing.

It's always a joy to be here - to meet friends like Prince and Nana.