Rashid Pelpuo writes

BEYOND THE HORIZON 

Lone baobab tree

  Sick and dry,

  Out with leaves,

   Full branched

In the hot dry savannah

      Animals romping

          In full blast thirst,

Children not in school

Fighting for survival

The earth unkind

           Pale moist-less sky

           Looks down

           In helpless quiet

Human huts find solitude here

And there glows some semblance

Of greenery

With lone souls

Spending their time

Hankering for drops

Of water

And grains of food

   The gazing sun

      Shares itself benevolently

    Pouring heat

           And brightness lavishly

       With working men

    Taking shelter under

Leaky patches of sheds

Here on an African night

Yesterday’s children

Still gather

   At full moon

    Telling stories

      Of the brave ancestors

         And how they conquered

      Their fears

The smiles here are dry

And the giggles are hoarse

They tell stories of distant lands

In the remote

Parts of the earth

     Of how men enslave the gods

        And use their powers

     To fly and do duty to their egos

Swimming in rivers of wealth

This is in places beyond the horizon

Where the world ends  

And where life has a meaning

Beyond helplessness and despair

University of Cape Coast 1993, after I closely looked at a painting in a staff common room

Baobab Noon -- Wendy Rosselli