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Atukwei Okai: Kperterkple Serenade (excerpt)

III

 

make room in your inn for me –

I know:


when karl marx grabbed his bibliography
and ballpen and pocketed his toothbrush
and his shaving stick


he went and bought a ticket to london


when ghandi girded his loin cloth, it
was london he had in mind.
when lenin fled his beloved motherland
his final haven-crashpad was london.

but america

your address book too has memories that yield

the names

of von braun and charles dickens and
marcus garvey and amerigo vespucci and
christopher columbus who boarded the wrong bus
and maxim gorky and mayakovsky and uncle
einstein and mr. carnegie and rockefeller

even your ports

recalling

report how
the mayflower moved in to deflower at night
the virgin land
of the red indians –

jesus christ it seems and judas did not make it

america

you are a funny girl…
everybody dreams of kissing you

Comments»

1. robert okai quashie - July 17, 2007

the last line is classic

2. maame - June 5, 2008

he is not the best?! man the man is GOOD!!

3. Lost at the End - April 8, 2009

beautiful

4. joseph keteku - March 19, 2010

i am proud of this man. he is an inspiration to the youth. i wish him all the best in life.

5. emmanueldogbey - December 15, 2010

yes man, you are understood in your in your dress and your speech, a true african genius

6. alex - July 9, 2011

i like your poem by the way i am ghanaian

7. Godwin - November 2, 2011

Your poems inspires all the time

8. Edem - December 13, 2011

what a great piece….this man is really an icon


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