When I Was Little, A Poem Written By S Kojo Frimpong

 When I was little I wanted to be a spy

But I never knew why I wanted to be one

Or even understood why I had to be a spy

Until now that I still have so many unanswered questions

Hovering in my head like scavengers

Waiting to feast on my dead brains

At any least given chance

Why were we kept from so many secrets?

When they knew it will one day be open themselves to us

I wanted to become a spy so I could

Figure out what goes on behind closed doors

When lovers are coiled inside blankets

I wanted to also know how our parents

Did their magic that brought forth

One of our kind every four years

I wanted to find what was hidden

Behind the deep blue skies

And the deep blue seas

I wanted to find out what goes on behind closed doors

And inside the dark when all the lights go out

But now I realise every secret is open

There are no secrets but mysteries

So I am a spy and I know not

What I am seeking but I will know

When I finally meet who I have been

Seeking for right from birth

I will realise I was finding myself

And I didn't know I was lost

By S Kojo Frimpong 

ADWA

You asked me about the war of Adwa,

I asked if you had forgotten that

The thief only came to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

You asked me about how we lost ourselves

I asked you if you have forgotten how

Like a plaque, they have coerced us to let go of ourselves?

Altering our culture and religion

And holding us in captivity like the Israelites

In the hands of the Egyptians.

I spoke truth:

Truth be told this is not a fairytale

It only happened 126 years ago

That when told,

It sounds so fiction in your ears.

Unlike Moses, our savior did not come with a rod, he was

Chaperoned by his youthful brother.

But are histories not stories?

The legend of how traditional warriors

farmers, and pastoralists

As well women conquered a well-armed

And highly apt alien troops in the northern town of Adwa, Ethiopia

Adwa still stands as a testament

To what Africans can do when we reach jointly as one

Today I remind you about not only the victory of Emperor Menelik

And the populace of Ethiopia

But I am painting you an illustration of an everlasting ink

How Adwa veered around into the symbol of redemption

And liberation for the whole of Africa