From the depths of my soul comes a heart breaking cry
Upon me has come poverty, want, shame, despair, disgrace
Where can I now hide my face?

To explain where all the money went
To show how it was spent.

There is no excuse, I did not have a plan,
I made the same mistakes again and again.

Gone, gone, gone, it is all gone
The glory is gone and in its place
the shame has come.

Gone are the air-conditioned jeeps,
my compound which you would mistake for a car parking lot
I now heave and shove along with the rest of the sweating masses.

Gone are the days of rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty
I hide myself in the streets from my friends, a leper in their presence.
As I disdained others in my hey days, so I am now despised by my “friends.”

Gone, gone, gone, are the girls, the beautiful, heart-stopping girls
Sixties girls, high-life girls.

Outwardly innocent,
but vipers beneath
Money suckers, wealth destroyers, destiny thwarters,

Insatiable girls, a night on the town,
a new car tomorrow, a 18- karat gold set,
heavy enough to drown a man,
a new furnished apartment, endless parties,
a river of alcohol to last two lifetimes.
Two-faced she-devils, where are they now?

Gone, gone, gone
Like everyone and everything else, they are all gone.

Go back again to begging?
Go back again to trekking the streets?

Looking for a means, any means, I have to survive!!
Give me a break, give me a job, I want to do something,
I can do anything!

I can work, I want to work, because I must live.
Woman does not live by bread alone,
but how can woman survive without the bread?

O, how I have fallen!
I am broke again???
So soon??

The River Parts

When love goes sour, hate finally reigns
Where once there was joy, despair settles in
Happy smiles, twinkling eyes, lost in each other
Now burn with hatred,
each wanting to get even with the other.

Where they once held hands and talked for hours,
murmuring sweet nothings
They now walk away, backs turned,
heads held high, rigid with distaste & anger
No more music,
Happy songs, music made just for the two of them
but their intimate secrets laid bare for all to hear.

Dancing feet, rushing to meet
Glad for each minute, each moment to be together
Division and spiteful words never thought possible
Dancing is now mourning,
smiling lips finally a thin line of hate.

When love goes sour, it hurts
When love goes sour, it kills a part inside
When love goes sour, it leaves you lonely
It leaves you wondering why it ever happened at all.

While Time Lasts!

O mortal man!
while time lasts, make the most of your life
Life is a fleeting shadow,
but a single scene in a beautiful play.

To what end do you strain and strive
in vain for riches, wealth & power?
Death drives a two-seat hearse,
there is space for naught else,
save you and him.

To what purpose do you gloat
and strut with pride?
When the tide ebbs,
it leaves you lying graceless, unadorned,
maskless, naked, exposed to every eye.

O mortal man!
make the most of your life while it is yet midday,
the night hour creeps as silently as a preying cat,
it comes closer with each passing day.

Why do you crave praises,
why do you love the hollow honor of man,
the deceitful applause of dust?

The King judges not what is put on display
for all to see, but the dark secrets, the hidden thoughts,
the deep motives
you would never permit to see the light of day.

Why, oh why do you clamor and fight to attain power,
to ascend to dizzying heights,
to control the destiny of others?

Powerless you came and powerless you will return,
still there is no power within man that can stay
the advent of the eventide.

O mortal man!
make the most of your life,
while the story is but yet many chapters away
from the climax.
The end draws nearer and nearer still,
when the Writer will finish the last page.

O mortal man!
spend not your time on sensual earthly pleasures,
beware, you add
needless speed to an already racing ride downhill.

Set up your savings in the heavenly place,
one instance of salvation,
a ton of love,
two stones of obedience,
ten drachmas of patience,
a hundred pounds of peace,
fifty sterling of faithfulness,
two hundred quarters of meekness,
three hundred ounces of steadfastness,
a single pure heart, and two clean hands.

O mortal man!
make the most, the most of your time:
because life here is a one-way journey,
you set off from a warm place
to which you can never return.

Copyright © 2005 by Charlina Daitouah