When life’s course is run
When dutiful duty is done
When everything is said and done
You played your part
With all your heart
In the wider drama of life-
In football, hockey, swimming, you name it
In academia, politics, management, you made it
When humankind is unkind
To the gentlest of a kind
You blew us out of our mind
When national values and mores nosedive
Knights of valour emerge on the scene
To douse the flagrant flames of the obscene
Yeah, there are many evil forces unseen
Yet valiant knights on the scene are seen
Infidels, mispatriots and misanthropists thrive
Yet with velvet gloves you floored them alive
The incorrigibles, scoundrels and ruffians alike
In the political arena they fell and fled
You taught them hard lessons in soft diplomacy-
Dzi wo Fie Asem concept made them red
With humour and humility you left them bemused
As you tutored your critics and the ruffians
Now that you are gone
Who else will they gore?
You left them the legacy of your lore
Which will be recounted many many years
After you are gone
They are left bored
But one day in the future
They will read your legend of yore-
That Asomdweehene passed on
To draw the fractious factions together-
A feat that defies an encore
Kwesi Atta Sakyi is a Ghanaian poet.
If you have a poem in memory of President Mills, please send it to us at oneghanaonevoice(at)gmail(dot)com.
Oh Prof, who will your Better Ghana vision carry?
Some say you should have tarried
Are they playing God?
Your death has made many harried
Your fiery critics no longer can hold you in derision
We all mourn you in unison
Ghana and Ekumfi Otuam have lost a worthy son
A great man in death unites
Tributes pour in from right and left
Even your bitterest bashers are cowed
In death you stand so tall
In death you shamed them all
When the physical and political duels were hottest
You elected and bowed
Though it was not your wish
Death is an inescapable path for a mortal
Christ our Lord and St Peter
Receive you at heaven’s portal
Kwesi Atta Sakyi is a Ghanaian poet.
If you have a poem in memory of President Mills, please send it to us at oneghanaonevoice(at)gmail(dot)com.
Oh, 24th July 2012,
What a snafu day
And a shameful day
For the cacophonous and castigating popinjays,
The whole Ghanaian sky was overburdened and overcast
Every Ghanaian was downcast
Even the sun was not its usual self
Ghana was plunged into a gargantuan
Doom and gloom,
Our bright star was summoned into the ancestral world
At high noon
Every Ghanaian was bereft and in mournful mood
Breaking news, breaking news,
The din on the plenitude of Ghanaian radio stations
Beggared belief as I journeyed from Nsawam to Swedru and Winneba,
The news became bitter and bitter,
There was no better Ghana this time around,
At 15.30 hours Ghana time,
The shocking news graduated from better to bitter
As I had earlier disbelieved, thinking it was the usual hoax,
Professor John Evans Atta Mills (alias Kofi Mbir)
Had joined the ancestors
Dammirifa, dammirifa due
Yema Ghanafuo nyinara yaako
Alas, at last he confounded his virulent critics
Oh what a bitter pill to swallow
Alas, at last there is no more bashing
But weeping and gnashing of teeth
May his good deeds in the Better Ghana Agenda outlast his detractors
May his role model character of modesty and humility
Be a shining example to all Ghanaians
May his soul rest in perfect peace with the Lord
Kwesi Atta Sakyi is a Ghanaian poet.
If you have a poem in memory of President Mills, please send it to us at oneghanaonevoice(at)gmail(dot)com.
