I write most of my poems as prose-poetry, and the lengthier pieces can be performed as spoken word. I prefer this style because I’ve always hated the cliche format of more traditional pieces of poetry, and I enjoy telling stories through my work. With that being said, please enjoy this collection of a few that I’ve put together for you guys.
Outside my Window the Children Bleed
Out in the Colours Red, Gold and Green
Congregating outside of barber shops and off-licenses, there are crooked characters cat-calling young women,
Whose whole crew are 36+ and still crashing out over big-backs in maxi dresses.
Whole generations that could never resist the temptation to be led by their pelvis,
We are going to need more than prayers, divine intervention and fasting to help us.
You see, they’ve cracked the code for covid but quiet as kept
What’s killing our community is a lot more sinister.
We’re riddled with crippling pride and misogyny
That’s being passed down from prominent figures in our homes, politics and ministries.
I get that the UK is stripping away your ideals of masculinity;
Went to uni, did national service, joogged for papers just to come here and get minimal job opportunity.
I know the side pieces help piece together whatever you feel like you have left of your manhood,
There’s no talk of splitting bills, buying clothes or food shopping, you’re just allowed to lay up and feel good.
Ekubanz on Tottenham High Road where you used to get all your fans,
A taste of Ghana in London, in there you felt like the man.
And the older you get the more air-miles you collect from your tricking overseas,
Young tings you drive around town with in the cars you shipped over, while you pay for their schooling fees.
And I am not absolving any mothers from killing male confidence and piling on unnecessary pressures,
Because marriage is a commitment you made for better or worse; regardless of the consequence, you made that choice together.
And that’s if it even makes it to the alter,
Because you don’t argue to gain and give understanding, but to silence each other.
Households left in shambles, the half siblings ample,
And these are the man you expect us to look to as examples?
I would have more grace if any effort was made, outside of birthdays and Christmas, to be active with your children,
But they don’t see a lick of you anywhere else on the calendar, you’re a mythical character, more like a work of fiction.
You try and reconnect with your sons around the age of 20,
But it doesn’t work like it does with your daughters, because the boys won’t accept your money.
They hate you but fall for the same allures as yours because of lack of guidance,
Morphing into their biggest nightmares, the cycle continues and it’s frightening.
The amount of man I know that hate their dads, thus by default hate a part of themselves,
That are now too afraid to even become dads, because they don’t wanna inflict the same wounds on their children that they suffered themselves.
I want all Gh dads to do the emotional work that hurts,
And sit in the mess and feelings that grounding process unearths.
So instead of trauma, your children are inheriting blessings,
And the phrase ‘wo Suban te sɛ wo papa’ can never be used again as a weapon.
uploaded: 19/12/24
Libra
Smiling at the thought of ways to flex on you is taking me away from God,
The scales of my soul can never be evenly balanced with me and you always at odds.
But the moral high-ground is getting harder to reach,
These days I’m doing people how they do me, I’m done tryna preach.
Where has being the bigger person ever gotten me anyways?
I’m a giant watching my step trying not to crush others’ fragile perceptions of self.
uploaded: 8/5/23
Loyal Subjects
Is holding onto your pride worth losing everything that you’re proud of?
Blood’s thicker than water so the barren crowns are hereditary,
Crooked robes, clouded diamonds, and chalices filled to the brim with hypocrisy.
Maybe you’re doomed to view women as tools to build mountains that house your ego,
And reward yourself with palaces big enough to be chambers for your own echo.
When building foundations you’re gonna need to add something to mix into the mortar,
And I’ve heard through the grapevine that blood is thicker than water.
You desire praise and accolades, you need people to feel like they should pay you dues,
But you worship your own creed, and are driving away the people that should be filling the pews.
Divine intervention is needed but you supersede your needs for that of those around you,
Killing yourself for power, The Ice King, I change my mind – a crown of thorns is what binds you.
In the end coffins confide us all, and is your pride what you’re taking with you?
Is holding onto your pride worth losing everything that you’re proud of?
uploaded: 8/5/23
Balancing Act
I think being a parent is hard.
All your mistakes being transferred into miniature spiritual mirrors who will remind you how much they resent inheriting the worst parts of your reflection.
Please be intentional with how you settle your offspring into the earth, while still being mindful of how photosynthesis works,
and ask yourself: are you starving your child of the light that enables them to grow?
uploaded: 8/5/23
Losers
I know a lot of losers.
Lost so much they can’t find themselves.
Lost so much they can’t trust the feeling of ownership.
There’s something timid, fragile and broken in our composition when it comes to connection,
And our evolution is slowing down because of the risks of social rejection.
We will never attract any of the things we’re too afraid of losing.
uploaded: 8/5/23
7 Words Pt.II
You have a responsibility to be yourself.
uploaded: 8/5/23
Maybe
Maybe my hands are finding it harder to open my notes app and tell you lot the truth,
But I’m good at avoiding things, and it feels like I’m avoiding things.
Maybe when my hands are pressed together they’re finding it harder to carry the weight of my prayers,
But I’m not saying what my troubles are to get you lot to pray for me, and it feels like you lot don’t pray for me.
The saying goes ‘you can’t heal what you never reveal,’
And maybe I’m the only one applying pressure to my wounds in my silent battles.
uploaded: 8/5/23
QuoteKwame 