My empty glass

You are like an empty glass

To be specific an empty wine glass

You are so clear, with a touch of class

Filled with nothing but air and shiny like brass

Before the wine comes you will be just a decoration

Not of much importance, just waiting

But I see through you, that's my confession

Your 'empty glass'ness is special so when the wine comes

I'm saving you from the alcoholic contamination.

His music and him

"Julz I don't want to miss the front seat, hurry up." Sandra said and literally dragged me out of the car. "Look here, if you wanted those seats you shouldn't have wasted the time putting on ounces of make-up" I replied. We were at a huge musical concert with all the Stars performing but we were mostly interested in Yaw P. He made such cool music. Sandra and I were huge fans and had a crush on him like everybody else.

Thanks to Sandra's 'dosted' boyfriend, we had VIP tickets (Real VIP tickets!). The show had already started but Yaw P hadn't performed yet. "I'm seriously going to talk to him at the after party." Sandra kept saying. She can be obsessed like that. And he came up to the stage. All of a sudden the screams in the audience went cloudy. He was amazing. What a guy! There was something so real about him. It wasn't just the fact that his music was so easy to relate to, he simply took my breath away.

I joined Sandra in dancing to his songs. The concert was the best ever. I was watching Yaw P in VIP! I felt the show ended too soon but I guess we were just having a good time. "Hey we've got to get to the after party before it's chocked." Sandra said, yet again dragging me but this time I didn't mind. I knew all the girls were rushing there too. It was late so the roads were clear and we got there quite early.(the car park was almost full)

"That would be 40 cedis EACH." The bouncer said when we got to the entrance. "What!?" I screamed. The people behind us were giggling. "But we have VIP tickets" Sandra added. He just looked at us and said, this time in a louder tone, "40 cedis each!" (very embarassing) To make matters worse, two girls behind us brushed us aside and paid. They giggled at us as they walked inside. Now I was really mad! "Sandra let's go, this is silly." I whispered to my friend. "Errm Julz I want to go inside. If you have 35 I could lend you 5 cedis." She responded. I didn't know what to say for about 5 minutes. "Naa it's cool, I don't really wanna go in (big lie!) So what do I do?" I asked and scared of the reply. "Hey you can wait in the car. I won't be in too long." (40 cedis, who was she kidding?) Sandra said. She gave me her keys and rushed off all excitedly.

So I'm at in a parked car in a packed car park. I turned on the radio and all I heard was Yaw P's music. I got even more depressed. Then I thought about driving to some cool place and just hanging out. I mean Sandra slacked and gave me her keys. I sparked the car and was off to a beach resort close by. It was so blissful there. The beach at night is always lovely. It was a full moon too, very romantic. I sat on one of the rocks in the dark. There was a guy there. I'm not the type who start conversations but I wanted to talk to someone. "Hi, what are you up to?" I said calmly. He didn't even look up. He was facing the sea, writing something in the sand. Was this some form of rejection? "Yawa" ooh.

I wasn't going to lose this battle so I said again, "Hello." This time he stopped writing and turned. "Sorry, hi, was praying." He said. I couldn't believe it. This wasn't real. I was talking to Yaw P! "What are you doing here at this time?" He asked as if he wasn't Yaw P. I tried to straighten my face because he was looking. "Errm actually I'm from ..." I started. "The concert. I know, I saw you. Your smile is unique." He interrupted. I didn't know what to say. I guess he noticed and smiled. I was acting just to goofy. I was on the beach with Yaw P, I needed to get a grip of myself. I took in a deep breath and just like magic I was calm. We chat about music, food, jokes and all the simple stuff. I had the night of my life. Oh and poor Sandra heard the whole story on our way back home. Hehehhe.

Her request

A two year old girl was playing with her 4 year old brother and she asked him, "Martin, what is blood?" Martin looks at her and responds, "It is some red thing in people." Angela thinks for a while and asks again, "Have you seen some before?" Martin smiles and nodds his head. Angela gets up beaming from ear to ear. "I want to see some." She sings. Martin admires his sister's excitement and thinks of how to grant her wish. He grabs her hand and they run to their parents in the living room.

"Daddy, can I have a blade?" Martin says when they get there. Mr. Lamptey turns to look at them curiously. (Angela is still beaming)He smiles at her too. " Yes you can but not now." He replied. Smiles begun to fade but these kids were not satisfied. "When?" Martin asked again. His father stuck to his words. This time Angela grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him back to their play room. "Daddy is bad!" She muttered as they left.

They went on playing for the rest of the day but Angela still had blood on her mind. During lunch, she asked again. "Daddy can we have the blade now?" Her father patted her head gently and said, "yes dear, but not now." Mrs. Lamptey who didn't want to comment on the matter got a little worried. When the kids run off she asked her husband, 'Are you really going to give them a blade?" Her husband laughed out loud (lol'd) and nodded. "Yes, when they are old enough to handle it." He explained and immediately calmed his wife's nerves.

Later that evening, Angela was chasing the cat around the play room and she fell. She had a bruise on her knee and was bleeding lightly. Martin rushed to her. "This is blood." He said excitedly. Immediately she stopped crying and starred at her knee. "Wow, the red thing." She said trying to smile with tears rolling down her chubby cheeks.

This story is not very different to what we do everyday. We ask God for things that we know we need but God made us so he knows us best. He knows what will help us and what will hurt us. So we ask and ask and when we don't recieve we feel like he isn't listening. He is, he just knows what's best for us and gives it to us in his own special way.

I’m happy the world sucks

If the world didn’t suck we would all fall off

If we never felt weak how can we feel tough?

We can’t have a South without a North

Or know smooth without feeling something rough

But happy or sad, left or right, up or down we wait on tommorrow

To take away our sorrow, teach us to grow and show love to our fellows

Because we know the world sucks and so it will definately keep us from falling off

Silver sky

Six days in a week, no seven I lied before but now I don’t

There’s just one thing I seek, I can forget about it but I won’t

What’s in the sky? U ask, I stare for a reason u won’t understand

From dawn till dusk, I see a sky made of silver, the kind you put on my forth finger

Six years gone by, yes six, this time I tell no lie

Each day I try, try not to cry

So I smile because you are looking down at me from above the silver sky

My Window- Shopper (Part II)

I turned to her and said a calm ‘hi’. She looked at me and was startled. “I just want to ask you something.” I explained. She tilted her head and looked down. She was reaching for something in her bag. I went on, “why did you run off like that the other day?” She didn’t say a thing. She just turned away and tried to leave. I held her hand and she looked at me, surprised. Just then a man came from nowhere and pulled her away. “Why are you harrasing her?!” He shouted. I didn’t know what his problem was. She was trying to hold him back but he moved closer to me. “I was just asking her a question.” I replied in a lower tone. He looked at me carefully and finally said, “Leave her alone.” Then they both walked off. What was his problem?

Danny told me not to get involved with her because her boyfriend was clearly crazy. I did not understand why he acted so harshly. It was clear we were just talking. What was a cool girl like her doing with a useless guy like that? Instead of being deterred I felt the need to protect her. I had the shock of my life the next day. At about 5:20 my Window-Shopper passed infront of the shop. She looked prettier than ever. Her eyes were glowing. She put a piece of paper on the foot of the door and walked off. I was going after her when Danny stopped me. "Chale just read the note." he urged. I picked it up and it read...

I am sorry about what happened the other day. I don't know what you wanted to ask but can leave a note for me so I'll answer it the next time. I don't think you should talk to me. Thank you, bye.


I couldn't believe it. Why didn't she want to talk to me? She didn't even know me. I replied immediately. I told her I just wanted to get to know her, just to be friends. Maybe that was a lie but I didn't intend to scare her away again and I was sure that was all the proof her boyfriend needed. But he wasn't right for her. I left the note at the same place she left hers and waited. Just when I had given up hope in her coming by, she showed up. She seemed very nervous. Just then I understood why. Her boyfriend was with her. He had that stern look on his face and was dragging her by the arm. I just watched them from the shop. She stared at the note on the floor but could not pick it up.

I was fed up! Who did he think he was. I rushed out and stood infront of him. "Hey, what's your problem?!" I asked. He moved her aside and walked closer to me. "You are my problem so stay away!" He replied in a louder voice. I turned to look at her, she was signaling me to stop. Why should I, he was clearly abusing her. The next thing I know, the crazy guy threw a fist at me. I was quite blown by the punch but I managed to reply. He wasn't that though any way so I gave him a good beating. Danny rushed to his aid. "Are you ok?" He asked him. He nodded and managed to get up. I turned to look at her, she was crying, she helped him up. Why? I wondered but then his last words made things clearer. " I'm still warning you to stay away from my sister!" I just froze.

I couldn't believe how stupid I was. Danny made it even worse. He found out some more about her. Her name was Zelda Okine and her brother was Nelson Okine. She was attending the Deeper Sounds School. That was a school for the deaf and dumb a few blocks away. I was such an idiot. He was protecting her because of her inabilities. It all made sense. I had to appologise, big time! I wrote two letters. One was for Zelda and the other her brother Nelson. She hadn't passed by the shop in two days so I decided to send it to her in the school. This time I went with Danny. When we got there we were told Zelda had left the school a day before. The school had no further records they could give me. I had blown it up. I never saw Zelda again, but this lesson I'll keep for as long as I live.

Who determines the masterpiece?

I have always been an admirer of art. I believe the ability to create is one of the greatest gifts from God. When I was young, I would rush home from school just to watch my uncle paint one of his pieces under a nim tree at the back of our house. He usually painted abstract pieces that amazed me even though I didnt think they were very beautiful. Occationally a visitor will pass by and look at his work. They either laughed or told him to look for another hobby. This made my uncle upset but he always managed to keep a smile on his face.

One sunny weekend afternoon, he called me over to his room and asked me to sit still on a chair next to the window. I did as he said and he begun to paint me. I wondered how the painting would look like as I sat there. ‘Can I see it now?’ I kept asking. My uncle just laughed and encouraged me to be patient. When the work was done, I bounced off the chair to see how my replica looked like. It was beautiful. He had captured my smile and my eyes seemed to be glowing. I loved it. I felt it was far better than all the other strange paintings he used to make.

My uncle from that day changed his style of painting. He no longer did abstact art but portraits and landscapes. He entered into an art competition in Accra and won. After about four years his paintings could be seen in most art galleries in the country. I was so happy and I felt my portrait had changed his life until one eventful day. I went over to help him move into his new appartment. He didn’t notice me enter. He was sitting down staring at his old works and there seemed to be tears in his eyes. He was looking at one particular piece that took him three months to finish. I saw where his real passion laid but for the sake of society he was making a sacrifice. This made me wonder, was my uncle an artist or merely a people pleaser.
My uncle was getting more and more successful with his portraits. He had fans from all over the world. He suggested I become his manager. He felt I was the best person for the job because he could trust me, I had been with him throughout his journey and I was family. I was very excited but I knew the job wouldn’t be easy so I did as much reading as I could about art. I took a crash course in art appreciation, went for several exhibitions and visited galleries. It was after this that everything made much more sense to me. There are several things that make up a good artist; his skill, knowledge, method and most especially his passion. I also learnt that what made an art piece unique and admirable were the good work of the artist as well as the ability of the admirer to relate to the piece.

I went to my uncle’s studio and took out his old abstract works and realized I was right with my new insight. They were extremely beautiful and unique. It was almost impossible to believe that I never appreciated them in the past. I spoke to the owner of one of the art galleries that my uncle’s works were displayed and told them about a special collection he had that hadn’t been yet seen by the public. They seemed very interested and agreed almost immediately. When I told my uncle about it he seemed even more excited than I thought. We made arrangements for all his fans to be at this event. Occasionally he had doubts about what people would think but I always reassured him that all would be well.

On the day of the event we displayed seventeen works! The attendance was unbelieveable with many known and respected faces in the art scene. The responses were far more enthusiastic than any one had ever seen before. Critiques said it was his best collection ever. There was an auction on one of the paintings. It got bought by the owner of the largest art gallery in London. He was so pleased with the work. At the close of the day I looked at my uncle and realized he was on his way to being a legend in Ghanaian art basically because of both his skill and passion. Thank God he kept his most inspired pieces.

My Window-Shopper

She walked passed the store every evening. Between 5:30 and 6:00 to be precise. It was almost like a deja vu, each time she would reduce her pace and turn to the glass window, stare as she works and occassionally stop halfway. Take a better look at the mannequin and walk off again. At first it was annoying but I guess I got used to it after a while and before I knew it, I looked forward to seeing my 'window shopper' everyday.

She was never with anybody, she always walked alone, sometimes with her earphones on listening to music. I never saw her in the mornings. My guess is she got to work before we opened the store. I could be wrong, but that's the thing about her, everything could be wrong. But one thing was certain, she liked to stare at clothes, especially little black dresses.

One Wednesday, this pretty lady didn't show up at all. I thought I missed her while I was talking to a client in the shop but I didn't see her the next day either. On Friday I was a little worried so I asked one of my fellow shop attendants if they saw her pass. (I wasn't the only one who noticed her) He said he didn't. A few minutes later, there she was striding down the side walk doing what she does best. I guess I was staring too much this time because she looked at me. I just smiled and she smiled back shyly and walked off as she always did."Hey, why don't you invite her in the next time? I think she likes you." Danny suggested that day after work. I shrugged but I thought that was a lovely idea and she did smile at me.

Time seemed to be very slow on Monday. I don't know why I was nervous. I kept looking at the time. Danny winked at me when the hour was near. "How hard could it be? All I had to say was, hi do you want to come in? That was it. Once she came in, I would ask her where she worked and we will move on from there. I may not be one of those guys who have got 'swagga' but I can make conversation.

My Window Shopper was not the drop-dead gorgeous type but there was something very attractive about her. She had her hair in a pony-tail most of the time. She dressed almost formal, usually in a simple short sleeved shirt and a pair of black trousers. Occasionally she would wear a skirt to show off her lovely legs. There was something about her not 'made-up' face, or was it her eyes that seemed to tell a story. Sadly in a language I couldn't understand.

There she was, outside the shop. There was something wrong, I could feel it. She was walking faster this time. I quickened my pace to the door. She didn't turn to look at all. I wasn't going to let her walk away. "Excuse me!" I called after her but she just kept walking. She didn't even turn. For some strange reason, I yearned to know her more.

She didn't show up for the next couple of weeks. I couldn't believe it. Was she avoiding me? Maybe she didn't like poor shop attendants but I needed to hear it from her own amazing lips. Danny managed to find out her new route and one Tuesday I was waiting for her at the bus stop. I saw her approach and waited patiently. I didn't want to scare her off. There was no car around so she sat down next to me, without noticing who I was.................

Here is where you come in. Help me finish my story. What would you like to happen?..............

Live your dream!!!

It doesn't matter where you are,

who you are or where u come from.

What you have is what you really need,

to be the best, fight the rest and conquer all of your battles

I know your tired of what all those people say

but u can't stop now and you know that deep inside you.

It's time you live your dream,

you are the captain of your team.

So go on make the impossible possible