Opinions

News

Sports

Business

Entertainment

GhanaWeb TV

Africa

Country

Ode to Professor Paa Kwesi Mintah

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 Source: Sakyi, Kwesi Atta

Ode to Professor Paa Kwesi Mintah of Ghanaweb

By Kwesi Atta Sakyi 25th September 2013

( Forumers may note that Paa Kwesi Mintah calls me cousin, since we come from the same area in Winneba)

Oh, what are friends for

But for love, care and sharing

You and I are friends

And we’ve been friends all these years

We call ourselves buddies,

Sometimes we say we are pals

That’s why we are not apart,

We stick to each other like clams

And latch onto each other like leeches

Or like a pack of playing cards

Which complement and cancel each other out,

Oh, what are friends for

But for love, care and sharing

When we were young

We enjoyed playing hide and seek in the woods

And on the sandy beaches we played softball,

Sometimes, we played on and on and on

Till the tide was up

And our sandy castles were washed out to sea

Like faded paintings on a vast canvass

So shall it be to all human memories, lustful or loathsome

Yes, as the ages wore on,

We got married, had children

And the friendship also moved on

The invisible chains that bound us got rusted,

Our spouses got our friendship busted,

The chains may have given way

But the invisible chords that bound

Our umbilical chords and twined us in accord

Before our birth,

Will continue bonding us till death,

And thereafter to eternity,

If the Good Lord wills it

Oh, what are friends for,

But for comity, comeliness and conviviality

The sounds of wide guffaws

At late night parties resonate and ricochet

Off our apartments

Like the aak, aak or ratatata

Of the AK 47 rifle,

Indeed, they are telltale moments of bliss,

Oh, what about the occasional, ‘I thank you card’

From a friend for a kindness shown

In time of need,

They are reminders of the wonderful

Little joys that utter friendship,

And make indelible etches on our brains,

Lasting and lustful experiences,

It’s said a friend in need,

Is a friend indeed

But I say, a friend in deed

Is a friend through and through

Not a sucker, nor an opportunist

Oh, what are friends for

But for support, rapport and constructive criticism,

Oh nay, to liberate us from our narcissism,

And oh yeah, from our latent passivity,

Friends fire the fuels in our ambition rockets,

Providing us with payloads of ideas and hints,

Which launch us into dizzy heights of creativity and success

After lunging into Zambian and Sylvia Brews

All in our camaraderie to drown our blues,

After grazing, browsing and surfing rapaciously on Ghanaweb,

Saaalute, from forehead to waist,

Enter Professor Paa Kwesi Mintah,

Polyglot, polymath, prolixious and prolific super critic!

Contact: kwesiattasakyi449@gmail.com

Columnist: Sakyi, Kwesi Atta