Final update from Ogyakrom coming soon! Until then ...

I'm back in NJ (just my body, that is), but the rest of me - heart, mind and soul are all back in Ogyakrom. I stay in touch with what's happening on the ground by listening to Joy Fm's Super Morning Show. Check it out - worth your time, for sure. In the meantime, here's my most recent poem. Please do not quote without my permission. Thanks, and enjoy!

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Sweet Dreams and Nightmares

8/16/07 - esi

Dare to dream if you can

Dare to dream if you will

In a field with no horizon

Soar as high as your dream will take you

So much promise yet unfulfilled

So many opportunities yet untapped

Dare to dream if you’d like

Dare to dream if you wish

Sitting atop a dung hill

Smells assault, and sights enrage

Sounds of vultures and their spoil

Nightmarish apparitions hover around

The frustrated wanderer asks …

Will good arise from this land?

The disillusioned native thinks …

Why not flee this troubled land

Eyes planted in the back of heads

No vision for what could lie ahead

Feet turned backward, ready to run

Each step forward is another step backward

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A new pair of eyes settle on the dump

Putrid smells and painful eyesores

Assault of the senses and of the mind

Yet, a different reaction arises

A resounding response to a hollow call

Rubbing hands in delightful anticipation

A pupillary feast on an elusive treasure

The discerning eye catches the dream

Secrets unveiled to daring dreamers

Mind and attitude are poised for battle

Doubters will pummel, and pessimists harass

The mind of the battle - the tough must prevail

The battle of the mind – the dream must prevail

Creative assembly of desire and passion

Rejection of pigeonholes for open turf

New ideas frame new realities

Visions clarified, the impossible is possible

Giant excavators and little spoons

Shovels and spades all get on board

Partnerships of hope, eyes on the mine

The vision births hard work and faith

The cleanup begins with trepidation

Courage swoops in to aid the weak

Treasures are uncovered to spite the cynics

Beauty emerges to crown the effort

There are dreams to be dreamt in the motherland

There are opportunities to create in this Garden of Eden

There is much rubbish to incinerate …

And much more wealth to appreciate

The inner man speaks of satisfaction

The soulish being’s great contribution

A nation uplifted from a garbage dump

A mine of treasures uncovered by few

I started writing this on the bus in Newark while musing over how we see our motherland (Ghana). I just returned from Ogyakrom, and my passion and desire to return fuels me and fires me up all the time. It's pretty evident each time I talk to people, and they wonder why on earth I want to leave the green pastures of Uncle Sam's land to return to Ogyakrom. I keep running into a lot of negativity surrounding the issue of going back, from both people outside and those within. Most people seem to see no reason for heading back to Ogyakrom. I on the other hand look, and all I see is a goldmine concealed under a rubbish heap … … …