Poetry in a Global Box: Republic of Ghana

George Amoah

Woes of a Poet

I wish I could write better than this.

I wish I could write poetry

that sounds like a lullaby,

a sweet, sweet soothing melody

that will make all ears smile

for a while and say,

in their minds,

"This beats all by a mile."

I wish I could write better than this.

I wish I could use a poetry tool,

make it so cool

that no ears "boo."

I wish I could write a lyric,

a narrative or drama,

I wish I could communicate my feelings

of love, grief, happiness and despair

in my poetry so jaws will drop.

Oh God!

I wish I could use connotative words,

I wish I could use words beyond their denotations,

like “A flower represents delicacy,”

“Starry skies suggest something which has to look up.”

I wish I could write better than this.

I wish I could write a line as sweet as the taste of wine.

I wish I could write a stanza that will make me feel like I have won a bonanza.

A stanza that would turn ‘less’ into ‘more’ and still be concise.

I wish I could write a rhyme that flows as nice as a fountain.

That will be so nice readers would read

and loose track of time

a rhyme with all its repetition like:

“I have written a lyric

I leave it to the critics

to critique

and make the lyric

one to mimic.”

I wish I could use a simile better than

“blood dripped heavily down his head

as a rose petal that withered”

I wish I could use a personification better than

“rough wind, that moans loud,

grief too sad for song.”

I wish I could use a symbol to represent something other than itself,

like “The Phoenix and its life cycle represents the ups and downs in human life”

Oh how I would love to write an excellent poem.

I want write a poem better than that.

© by George Amoah