Wednesday, October 19, 2005

seconds before sleep

i continue to wallow in indecision and confusion. the clarity of my purpose has been exchanged for blurred visions of an unknown future. we all face our demons, we all have our crosses to bear, but the universe gives no more than what we can handle. the words of comfort are easy to come by, the logic is simple, but somehow it doesn't make it easier.

i find myself questioning my thoughts, my actions, my dreams ... and the answers do not come as easily as they used to. this should be the perfect period for writing but reality has imposed itself so strongly on my consciousness that i cannot see the stars through the smog. when i close my eyes, i see the reflection of my innate sadness and when i open them, i am engulfed in chaos. this is my version of wallowing in self-pity, in the hope that i shall snap out of it as the words speak back to me from the screen. we shall see. at times it inspires poetry.

i wonder why the caged bird sings
beauty in melodies tinged with hope
a voice loud inspired by possibility

i wonder why the caged bird sings
when the bars obscure its vision
when things fall apart
and crumble beneath the weight
of the universe's truth

the beautiful ones are not yet born
and we are in limbo
awaiting word from the heavens
answers to questions we do not ask

we are silent
and yet
the caged bird still sings

i wonder why the caged bird sings

thanks to maya angelou, chinua achebe and ayi kwei armah ... some of you may see the reference, albeit simple and shallow.

i had wanted to include an image of a 'caged bird' but struggled to find anything that captured the spirit of what is felt. that desire was driven by the belief that people will find this space interesting if there are pictures ... but all i know is words and why shouldn't the words be enough ... they are enough ... easy

3 comments:

Rethabile said...

There's a lot of us who might say we know why it sings, although few among those can actually put it into words.

I wanted to bring this to Thami's attention as well: don't fight. Fighting pitches you against everybody and everything, and believe me, that's not where the truth is. The truth is right here, where most of us are.

And lastly, be aware that Haloscan erases comments regularly for lack of space. Prefer the Blogspot comment facility if you want to keep your visitors' comments.

Keep writing.

Kojo Baffoe said...

Rethabile, thanks for the tip on Haloscan.

When submerged in the craziness of life, it is sometimes difficult to see beyond the obstacles in front of us. it is even harder to recognise that there is beauty in every space .... when the words are written, the spirit recognises the blessings and pushes forward (at least, i hope so).

easy

Rethabile said...

I hear ya.