The Tales of a Street Youth

I was told to learn to make it on my own
And it is the realest thing I have ever known

They say I am at liberty to dream as big as the Milky Way
But then, I will have to pave my very own way

The street is not just my home; it's where I keep all what I own
It's where I have lived all my life; it's much more than a home

Many call me names to my credit and discredit
But I am less concerned about the script they edit

I have a different story to tell the generations to come.
I begun long time ago and this' how far I have come

From the getho where I was born and grown,
Where I have seen many slip down the throne

In my shoes on your way through the wilderness,
You have more to lose than to gain; so so bitterness

To make it in my world, you must be hundredth in a million
And to keep it, you must be a centurion

But these are not reasons enough for me to let go,
Especially, not while I still feel the need to flow

My case is not one you'll love to hear; not here
So I will keep the lid on the rest until a better year.

The Tales of a Street Youth

I was told to learn to make it on my own
And it is the realest thing I have ever known

They say I am at liberty to dream as big as the Milky Way
But then, I will have to pave my very own way

The street is not just my home; it's where I keep all what I own
It's where I have lived all my life; it's much more than a home

Many call me names to my credit and discredit
But I am less concerned about the script they edit

I have a different story to tell the generations to come.
I begun long time ago and this' how far I have come

From the getho where I was born and grown,
Where I have seen many slip down the throne

In my shoes on your way through the wilderness,
You have more to lose than to gain; so so bitterness

To make it in my world, you must be hundredth in a million
And to keep it, you must be a centurion

But these are not reasons enough for me to let go,
Especially, not while I still feel the need to flow

My case is not one you'll love to hear; not here
So I will keep the lid on the rest until a better year.

TIMELESS ANNALS

I am tired of your taunting stunts
Whether you mean them or not
Because they take away my look
And turn me into a nook kook

You make me want to use and lose
Every single bit of my blues to you
Even though you know how bad I feel
With your filths in my face like glues

Don't ever think I will lose my beauty
Not even when the lights are turned off
For I know but one very thing
Not even myself can take them away

Don't come again if you aren't ready
To make me feel that very way
Stop making me want even more
Of you and of your love away

I have waited but for too long
My friends say I need to be strong
So though the feeling is hurting,
I have long stopped regretting

The reflections I have seen of me
Before and short after you were gone
Tells me the future is uncertain
For those who'd lose hope in me

Guilty I know I have become
Of having faith in the things yet to come
Of loving the same things I should hate
And of being mixed up and quiet late

They say my veins aren't blue enough
To enter and dance in the club
So sometimes I clone my emotions
With my self-styled naked notions

It's not because I am scared of dying alone
I am just tired of talking on the phone
It's not because I am missing you home
I am just in love with the stones you throw

Don't send me flowers in summer
Don't send letters that you are a runner
My mirror can't stand your timeless annals
So please spare me your ruthless banal

Author Notes:
Inspired by happenings at Kpodola Writing Workshop during a session with Poetra Asantewaa.

By the Blood, Be Saved

Eternal life is the most precious commodity,
Everyone must try to afford however may
And there's no other way than through Christ
The Son of God who died for the sake of mankind

By the blood, we shall all attain salvation
Because He is been and still is in causation
For the brisk and utter fulfilment
Of the promises of the Father to His Nation

Though the world still ignore His calls
He's proven to be the Master of Patience
In Him, rest your faith, for a restore of fate
Because in no time, you may be late

He died long before He was killed
Soaked in His blood of innocence
And such was but for you and I
To partake in His Holy Covenant

He lived long before He was born
Entrusted with the treasures of heaven
He overcame death before principalities
He's Himself, a heavenly Monarchy

His love for those lost in search of peace
Should find you on your way down every lain
He is powerful but beyond contending
Yet, He became as Humble as the Lamb

And as we celebrate this Easter,
May we find happiness in the
fiesta
May we come to learn of His unconditional love
And may we boldly emulate His every step

Without this, there may be no salvation
Not for you, for me nor for the nations
Because Christ is the only Name available
To deliver the world from its troubles

Simon K. Amu
©2017

THE STREET BOY

You equate the street boy to a criminal
Because of whatever reason in your mind
But if you lie in his position for a minute,
You will realize he actually deserves a salute

Have you ever wondered how he feeds?
How he manages to make his odd ends meet?
Days upon days through months into years,
He's been strong, surviving and killing fears

He does all kinds of jobs you won't allow your children to do
He does them not because he enjoys doing them
But because he's got no other choice
That can keep him dreaming for the best

You call him names you do not understand
You make him your object of mockery
And you even despise him for your egos
Oh, I am sorry, but I am not the least surprised

Like a lawyer, I stand before the jury today
And accuse the rich of being helpless to the society
If I am allowed to proceed with my case,
Then I have the following to say on the street boy's behalf

He's not the rebel you should fear
He is the less fortunate begging for your grace
He's not the object you should mock
He is the brave soul you should emulate

He thrives on the hopes lost by many
But he never complains for his unfair share
I call to the stand, the public media
And accuse him of spewing too many lies

DO EVERYTHING TWICE BETTER THAN BEFORE

Before you tell me about my past,
Know that I have long left it behind
I have left it behind not to be forgotten
And not for it to be rotten
I have left it behind not because I'm scared
Or because it means nothing to me
But I have left it behind to rest
To belong where it belongs
I have left it behind to be past, to be gone
And so to not dictate my future

But before you tell me about the future,
Please know that no one has yet been a future(r)
Know that it's the only thing I've hope for
And trust me, it's what I'm never certain of
I am not certain not because it is so bleak
Or because I am myself lost in its core,
But I am uncertain to be certain
That whatever may, the best soon comes
Yes brethren, I am uncertain to be certain
That the future is very uncertain

So while you still have today,
Please live your life like the last it may,
Do everything twice better than before
Today is the best time to live your call
Today is the best day you can afford
Not because yesterday is become a past
Or because tomorrow may never come
But it's the best because it is
For real brother, yesterday is gone
And oh, tomorrow just may never come

DO EVERYTHING TWICE BETTER THAN BEFORE

Before you tell me about my past,
Know that I have long left it behind
I have left it behind not to be forgotten
And not for it to be rotten
I have left it behind not because I'm scared
Or because it means nothing to me
But I have left it behind to rest
To belong where it belongs
I have left it behind to be past, to be gone
And so to not dictate my future

But before you tell me about the future,
Please know that no one has yet been a future(r)
Know that it's the only thing I've hope for
And trust me, it's what I'm never certain of
I am not certain not because it is so bleak
Or because I am myself lost in its core,
But I am uncertain to be certain
That whatever may, the best soon comes
Yes brethren, I am uncertain to be certain
That the future is very uncertain

So while you still have today,
Please live your life like the last it may,
Do everything twice better than before
Today is the best time to live your call
Today is the best day you can afford
Not because yesterday is become a past
Or because tomorrow may never come
But it's the best because it is
For real brother, yesterday is gone
And oh, tomorrow just may never come

Inspirational Poetry And Quotes: JESUS SAVES

Inspirational Poetry And Quotes: JESUS SAVES: Jesus saves, oh yeah, He saves From the grave, so be brave He is the stream of eternal life So your dreams, shall come to light ...

JESUS SAVES

Jesus saves, oh yeah, He saves

From the grave, so be brave

He is the stream of eternal life

So your dreams, shall come to light

Jesus Christ died on the cross

To pay the price of sin in gross

He rose on the third day

And He’d be back here some day

In Him is the assured salvation

So lets put Him in the highest elevation

In our lives, in our businesses and in our inspiration

Because He is the key to our restoration

Let me see the Christian soldiers,

Marching boot to boot like bulldozers

Spreading the gospel like messengers

Backed by the angels, our divine rangers

The Messiah said in the Book of Life

Come to me you those who are thirsty

Trust me He is the stream of eternal life

So you can still be saved, even above thirty

Jesus saves, oh yeah, He saves

From the grave, so be brave

He is the stream of eternal life

So your dreams, shall come to light

No matter the degree of your transgressions,

There is hope for positive progressions

So it’s never too late for the regressions

If they work towards your reconstructions

Jesus Christ promised to return some day

With the Father’s authority to judge our ways

So be warm the wages of sin is death

And only the meek shall inherit the earth

We need to take further looks around us

We need His graceful powers around us

Because from the troubles, only Jesus can save us

So let’s all join His saved and safe moving bus

Stop counting the bad moments for a second

And you’d realize they doesn’t even exist

There is nothing Jesus can’t give you

Because He’d promised us the treasures of heaven

Jesus saves, oh yeah, He saves

From the grave, so be brave

He is the stream of eternal life

So your dreams, shall come to light

Poetry Speaks for the Weak

When voices become silent,
When gestures can't express,
And when the heart is resilient
Poetry speaks without stress

When thoughts stumble and crumble,
Cos, hope melts like thin sheets of ice
Poetry speaks without mumble
And such keeps you on the rise

When time change the seasons,
And when dreams remain in their realms,
Poetry speaks but with reasons
Reprinting the lost films in gleams

When the strong become weak,
When the rich become poor
And when the great ones fall,
Poetry speaks with visions

When what's lost is found,
When dreams become reality
Poetry speaks in clear sounds
Sending you miles from agility

When the strong dominate,
And survival lingers on fitness,
Poetry speaks for the weak
And it defends the meek 

THE POOR AFRICAN BOY

I’m but just another poor African boy

Searching for my favorite but lost toy

You may call me names, so me you can shame

But because I crave no fame, I’d take no blame

I was taught to use my mind

With but the intents to find

My way out of this mess

And one day wear a new dress

You think am a fool, because I hate rules

But tell me what you learnt in school

That makes you think you are cool

And I’d show you, my ultimate tool

To be intelligent is normally a birthright

But tell me, what about being stupid?

Is it not wrong to wrongly take what you need?

Knowing how grave the cost might be

I learnt successful people took the most risks

To wear their crowns and act in brisk

So they deserve the space on their hard disks

And the bulletins on their shopping lists

The day is still early, but I’m up already,

Off to the farms to get things steady,

While others go to schools to study,

Oh life, be fair to me, or am I not ready?

I wonder why so much inequalities in nature,

But I realized it’s all good for our stature

I am scared because I can’t tell my predator

From my liver and fight it like a gladiator

I know very well that you know this

That in Africa, we love beads

But in case you don’t know this,

Beads represent our special deeds

As a little boy, I was taught to be cultural sensitive

So I rebuke those who say we are primitive

I know poverty to be just a state of being

That’s why I don’t give a damn to their billings

Sometimes, it baffles me to the brim

That those who work hardest are the poorest

If you doubt it, just check on the streets

You’d see Africans dancing without beats

I’m the same poor black boy

Trying to make value of myself

With too many books on my shelf

But no degree to account for

I take your scorn for a motivation

For it serves a proper inspiration

I’m working hard for my activation

And when am done, fake admiration?

I’m just taking my time

To compose sensible rhymes

I know poetry is divine and prime

So I’m swimming it till it becomes crime

To be rich is every boy’s wish

But I’ve a differing mission to accomplish

That’s to reach heights beyond switches

And pave ways even for the fishes

I have the gospel to preach and a destiny to reach

I have wisdom to teach and a praise to screech

So I won’t bother because of some breach

But I’d be just and humble with my speech

Yes,I am that poor black boy

That lost my favorite toy

And all I want is to find it back

Before comes the dark

BY THE FIRESIDE

Gather, gathering, gathered we are

By the fireside, from every side

With a united spirit in arts

A magnified voice of hope

And a ratified treaty of peace

By the fireside like the riverside

We lay our burdens to be forgotten

We shed our tears heaped over the years

We heal our pains with antics of gain

And we crunch with faith, driven by fate

 

By the fireside, then or now,

Rains the stories of days, of people and of places

The stories of love, of freedom and of peace

By the fireside with burning desire,

Warms our soul to be free from control

By the fireside wholly without strife,

I see the brothers and sisters overjoyed

Across the bridges of pain, of hate and of losing

To the other side where resides, more to gain

And where dreams cross streams to realms

By the fireside in the trough of fire-tides

Blazes the flames of divine creativity

Coated in the flames of cosmic relativity

Penning pieces with poetic furnishes

Inspiring the desire to never retire

By the fireside with glimmering firelights,

Hovers our bloated thoughts of reality

Like arrows of furrows in rows

Stand firm brothers and sisters

We can realize our dreams by the fireworks

by the fireside

Is Life ...?

Is there any other way,
We can arrive at same result?
Yes we may trust an alternative,
But tell me, just like that?
Is life some sort of experiment,
Hidden behind earnest experiences?
How do we classify the facts,
Among the pools of raining tracts?
Give me a reason to give up,
But know, my season is glowing.
Let's move in the forward direction,
The new walls, still under erection.
You are the man in charge,
So step it up right and large.

....The System?

How can I trust the system?
While betrayal is the cheapest commodity,
It is the same system that promises hope
That is full of destitution and defamation
It is the same system that promises peace
That is plagued by war, crime and discrimination
There seem no good man anymore in the world
The one you have good reasons to trust
Could actually be the one designed to bring you down
Injustice and insecurity have flooded the earth
There seem lack of answers to the primal questions
Our climb up the mountain is firmly restricted
And we have memories as short as days; volatility
With sights obscured from eternal visions; unaesthetic
Now is the time to think and rethink it over and again
There might be a step or steps we are missing
Only we and only us can liberate ourselves
From the shackles of perpetual internal blindness
Let's give reasons to the world around us
Why they should trust us and why we'd trust them
That is how we can keep our home spinning
How we can keep pace with the peace we know
And the only way we can reinstall the hope we lost

Life Is A Journey

Life is a one way journey,
To the land of the living
From the world unborn
And to the world unknown

The route aren't straight
But keeps meandering
Through alternating rocks,
Of right and of wrong

Everyone travels life's journey
Without passport nor visa
Not by land, by air nor by water
But within and to a destiny

Life is a call to be attended to
A mission to fulfill with pride
So while you live, take some ride
Into distance and into time too

Life is a gift worth receiving,
It's a precious and priceless treasure,
That's why its value's without measure,
And it's always worth keeping.

Life is a journey between two ends,
Say the past and the future,
It is the very present, with mends
And full of hope to better the future.

Life is like a spring of water that soothes,
It has the ability to cure our wounds,
It's the reason we survive every season
And rejoice in praise with our flutes

We travel life every way every now or then,
From zeros to heroes surviving few blows,
So learn to learn as you live life in the rows,
And no straight way, should you bend.

ONWARD EVER, BACKWARD NEVER

I am waiting for my turn

My turn to make a difference

A difference; a rightful turn

I shall never befriend pretense

Because I have learnt my lessons

Along the droopy route of life

And am still counting my blessings

Happy, I am for the gift of life

I know the journey is very tough

Some say life is a tag of war

And I learnt the texture is rough

So am building a hopeful door

With courage and perseverance,

I shall complete every mission

And with hope in abundance,

I shall curtail every confusion

Onward ever, backward never

We are moving on and on

Backward never, onward ever

We are moving on and on

Never stopping, we still topping

Are you waiting for your turn?

So you can make the right turn?

To effect a sound difference?

And also stop every pretense?

Can you count all your blessings?

And can you recall your lessons?

Come on, give thanks for life

For so precious, is the gift of life

I know the journey is very tough

And I learnt the texture is rough

We all know life is a tag of war

That’s why we must build a door

With courage and perseverance

Trust me, we have hope in abundance

So we can complete every mission

With much fewer confusion

Onward ever, backward never

We are moving on and on

Backward never, onward ever

We are moving on and on

Never stopping, still topping