A Boy's Prayer - Foster Toppar

As naked as he stands in the sun
He prays in his heart his wills
To the God who weaves his daily meals
On plates from his merciful barn.

Oh! What baffles his little mind,
Not even the seas can sink it
Though he swims to remain fit
For hours non-stop only to be refined.

This photo taken by some seeker
Unravels the secrets of a caterpillar
Grooming himself into a butterfly
To soothe a world with his unsung lullaby.

A courage so courageous carries capricious
Cedis over indignation for the morrow,
Which the hands shall borrow
For life’s issues that tastes boisterous.

A boy stranded in-between two corners
Coils his fear in other to possess
A love difficult to access
In a world bound by countless strangers.

Photo © 2010 Foster Toppar

Author Profile - Foster Toppar

Biography:

Foster Kudjoe Toppar was born in Accra on August 6th, 1990, where he currently lives. He had his education at Ghanata Secondary School in General Arts, majoring in Literature. He writes poems with the hope to entertain, inspire and comb the lies and the dandruff out of the hairs of our societies. His works and articles have appeared in both print and electronic media. Among them are OGOV, kpokplomaja.com, faithwriters.com and Christian Journal Newspaper.

Five Questions with Foster Toppar:

1. Which came first, the photo or the poem? Did one inspire the other, or did you bring them together after the fact?

The photo came first. I was taking photos of some activities on the beach during the recent Christmas holidays which I spent at Ningo Prampram. This boy walked to me and asked me in Damgbe to take a photo of him which I humbly did. The photo greatly inspired me to write the poem. I’ve always wanted to do something like this so I thought it was a great opportunity to do just that after taking the photo.


2. What drew you to utilize this particular rhyme scheme? Is it a set scheme you saw in another poem, or is it improvised?

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and studying of both African and Western poetry and what I discover every time I study a poem is overwhelming. So in my comparing and contrasting I came along poems with this rhyme scheme, though I did a little tweaking in the 3rd stanza, as you might have noticed.


3. More specifically, what drew you to change the rhyme scheme in the middle stanza? It makes for a refreshing change.

In my quest for originality in my writings I thought it wise to be more creative as any creative writer would want to be. And so after about a year and half or so of studying the poems posted on the site every now and then I decided to improvise this rhyme scheme in the middle stanza. So unlike the usual rhyme pattern of ‘abba’, in the middle stanza I use ‘aabb’. I guess this sum up the reason for my long silence on OGOV.


4. How important are outside editors, critics, etc. to the development of your writing?

Editors, critics, etc. have tremendous impact on what we write or even say. They are quite important to the development of my writing career. Many of them are the experts with a wealth of experiences so it’ll only do me good to draw some inspiration and advice from them. On the other hand, if they are not there it should not prevent me from exposing my talent and creative skills.


5. It's been over a year since we last heard from you. Give us an update on your life in the last year! How is life in Adenta?

A lot has happened... aside from developing my creative talents, attending book launches, literary nights and poetry readings; I’ve also been doing a lot of religious stuffs like composing songs and ministering in my local church every now and then. I believe poetry and music are like Siamese twins. They are inseparable to some extent. In this case either of them draws inspiration from the other so that neither is left out.

Contact Foster:

topparfoster(at)yahoo.com

Suffocation - Foster Toppar

All around her was very dark
The air she breathed,
The gown she wore,
Her shoes,
Were all black,
But her face was fairly black
And lips beautifully carved.

Then she looked around
Seeing the heavens
She fell to her knees
And thanked her chi
For it was all darkness
'What pleasure is this?'
She questioned with a sigh
And turning away from the heavens.

She stared at the ground
On which she stood
Alas! It was sparkling
A gentle glowing black earth
Slept under her feet
Gulping the warmth and peace
That she had released.

She felt the hue
Accommodating her heart
It seemed-
Very
Very
Pleasant
The atmosphere was rich
And nourishing
And its classics
Reached far beyond
But it was very
Suffocating
To them that had heard
And yet refused to believe.

Author Profile - Foster Toppar

Biography:

Foster Toppar was born to Mr. Victor Dela Toppar and Jennifer Tetteh in 1990. He lives with his parents and junior brother at Adenta, a suburb of Accra. He grew up separately with his grandparents at Alajo, then returned to live with his parents to attend Ghanata Senior High School. It was there that he discovered his talents and developed his creative writing.

Five Questions with Foster Toppar:

1. How long have you been writing poetry?

I have been writing poetry for the past two years. My first ever poem was written in mid-September 2006 when I was in Secondary School.


2. Who are your favorite poets? Which poets have most inspired and informed your work?

Personally, I appreciate good works and I believe every rational human being also does. I read all kinds of poetry published by various poets around the globe especially those originating from Africa, some of whom are Kobena Eyi Acquah, Lade Wosornu, John Pepper Clark, John Milton, William Cowper and William Wordsworth. However, Cowper, Milton and Kobena Eyi Acquah have inspired and influenced most of my works.

I hope that someday when I am away or perhaps retired, someone in the audience will take my poetry, wrap it nicely and present it to the generations to come after me who will in turn appreciate my works.


3. What do you hope to accomplish with your poetry?

Most often in life we do not recognize our potentials and therefore are unable to respond to our inherent calls respectively until we’re suffocated by the environment that extracts such resources. The day after I got the mail that my poem was going to be published in the next edition of this journal, I gladly told my mother about it and she was like - ‘So what are you going to get after your poem has been published?’

Deducing from the tone from which she asked that question, I was convinced that she was referring to monetary issues for the fact that I have also contributed to the journal. But neither gold nor silver have I targeted for my works. The greatest achievement I hope to accomplish with my poetry is to awake, quicken and provoke hidden and dormant talents in every individual especially within the youth, to the tremendous development of not only the art of poetry, but to every profession in Ghana, Africa and the rest of the world.


4. Was there much poetry-related activity at Ghanata Senior High School? If not what inspired you to take up poetry?

To tell you the truth, there was not much poetry-related activity when I was in Ghanata Senior High School except with the teaching aspect which was included in the school’s curriculum. But all of a sudden I fell in love with poetry and was completely overwhelmed by it, especially with the poets that I studied over there. This overwhelming feeling kept blazing within me day by day until I felt it was time for a breakthrough. Then one day I took a pen and a paper and I said to myself "today I am going to compose a poem" and like magic I wrote an interesting poem within some few minutes. I was thrilled and stunned by this experience, and since then I have been developing my own poems.

I think that if organizations, clubs, schools and the general public, especially those who are already in the business, would commit themselves to organizing frequent poetry related activities like poetry competitions among the young ones, it will go a long way to producing great poets here in Ghana and the whole African continent.


5. How many of your classmates were, or are, interested in poetry? Do you have a feeling if your generation is more interested in poetry than those that came before them?

As a matter of fact most of my colleagues did not take much interest in poetry. For some, it was more of a headache to discern poetry but due to excellent academic prospects they had to maintain certain limits. And for this reason I cannot quote a specific figure as to who had or did not have interest in poetry.

I believe that this generation and those to come have immense interest in poetry, just that they lack the motivation and the necessary assistance. And it is for this reason that am much grateful to Prince Mensah for his “lectures”.

Contact Foster:

topparfoster(at)yahoo.com