A short note on God, loving, leaving & living
after listening to Mafikizolo’s Ngeke Balunge
By Henneh Kyereh Kwaku
To be God is to bring into existence what brings others into being.
Gentle taps of rain on the roof —drizzle, shower—
If you stand in there long enough, your clothes will drip.
If you have the right fire, the sea will burn.
Whose prayer brings the rain?
Whose prayer opposed it, yet failed?
Through the opened louvres, the rain, the plantain leaves,
The pawpaws & mountain trees—
The crucifix I assume to be Holy Rosary’s—setting itself apart
Through the palm fronds.
God’s PR is really thick, says a word & all his Children
In their languages respond, Amen!
There’s bliss in the future, but how far is it?
So today too, you’ll say a prayer for the lovers who left you in ICU.
You’ll say words that you don’t know so you can enjoy the bliss of existence—
Raga baduu, sher her—iya kata, ragadaa-gadaa! Amen.
To be God is to bring into existence what brings others into being.
Gentle taps of rain on the roof —drizzle, shower—
If you stand in there long enough, your clothes will drip.
If you have the right fire, the sea will burn.
Whose prayer brings the rain?
Whose prayer opposed it, yet failed?
Through the opened louvres, the rain, the plantain leaves,
The pawpaws & mountain trees—
The crucifix I assume to be Holy Rosary’s—setting itself apart
Through the palm fronds.
God’s PR is really thick, says a word & all his Children
In their languages respond, Amen!
There’s bliss in the future, but how far is it?
So today too, you’ll say a prayer for the lovers who left you in ICU.
You’ll say words that you don’t know so you can enjoy the bliss of existence—
Raga baduu, sher her—iya kata, ragadaa-gadaa! Amen.
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BIO:
Henneh Kyereh Kwaku is the author of Revolution of the Scavengers, selected by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for the APBF New Generation African Poets Chapbook Series. He's an editor for @WildPine_Poetry: an Instagram-based zine, the Contemporary Ghanaian Writers Series (CGWS), Olongo Africa, & the Rev/host of Church of Poetry on Twitter Spaces. His poems and hybrids have appeared/forthcoming in World Literature Today, Poetry Society of America, Tupelo Quarterly, Lolwe, Agbowó, Tampered Press, Praxis Magazine, IceFloe Press, Random Photo Journal, Lunaris Review, CGWS, New South Journal, Lolwe, Samira Bawumia Literary Prize Winners Anthology, Resilience, Olongo Africa, Eremite Poetry & elsewhere. He is from Gonasua in the Bono Region of Ghana. Kwaku is currently pursuing an MPhil in Health Education at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Say hi to him on Twitter/IG: @kwaku_kyereh. |
