I lOVE GHANA

From the moment my feet touched the ground 

The moment I heard the different sounds

The heat that hit my face made me know I’d found my place.   

Every trip back to this country of mine 

Makes me love it, in a way I can’t define. 

The different shades of people, 

The hustle in the street, 

The reckless bus drivers, 

The kaya girls in the street. 

The food by the roadside,  

The colours of the clothes, 

The smiles in the faces of young girls 

Carrying life giving water in colourful buckets.  

The hot early morning sun 

The chickens and goats all out to run, 

Even the mosquitoes make music before they bite, 

The smells in the air, 

The sight of children playing without worries 

And birds, all around in flight in some kind of hurry. 

The music filled with life  

The drums beating with powerful might, 

The church bells a ringing 

The night songs of Christian brethren  

The mosque cries a calling 

The hi fi’s loud and blaring 

The crowds always cheering  

The markets always bustling. 

I love Ghana! 

The solidarity when you mourn, 

The companionship when you celebrate, 

The shouts of good morning from strangers in the street  

Even when they were late and rushed off their feet.

Oh I love Ghana! 

The country of rich culture, 

Of Rich laughter, 

Of Rich music 

Of Rich tradition 

I love Ghana!

The food so colourful,  

The Palm soup rich red orange, 

The Kontomre mysteriously green, 

The Shito black as night, 

The Gari yellow as the sun,  

The Kokonte brown as earth,  

How can you feel so blue 

With colourful food that will overwhelm you.

 I love my country Ghana! 

People of different cultures

Different tribes, Different dialects, Different lives,

All thrown together In a great pot, 

Intertwined like the roots of the neem tree.

Each passing through life like a pothole in the street, 

Up down – in out, up down, up down. 

I love my country Ghana!

A place with cultures old and new 

Make up the national stew 

Life surrounded by powerful hardworking women 

The matriarchs alive and strong The ones who continued from times long gone 

Their influences always around, like the undercurrents of a river rolling along,

 Never visible but strongly felt once encountered. 

 I love Ghana!

The patience of the people queuing in long lines like millipedes 

 Lines for busses Lines to vote Lines for water Lines to eat 

Moving along with the shuffling of tired feet I love my country Ghana, 

The hustle, The bustle, The rhythms of life, 

 Pulsating along I can’t live without my country Ghana I love Ghana, 

 The sea so blue, Sands so white, Sun so hot, Trees green and just right, 

If I continue with this love of mine I’ll talk on and on into the night….but  

Oh how I love Ghana!