I am Gold Coast!
Beautiful, hospitable, rich and natural
All who behold me never get enough
My stately form attracts praise from the sons of men
The profound curves and protrusion equally never go unnoticed
Clothed in a mosaic of lush greens
I am majestically adorned with ornaments of gold and diamonds
From coast to coast,
vast stretches of blue softly caress the sky
I warmly embrace all who come my way with open arms
The pale wanderers of yesteryears were no exception
To me they came
With sweet melodies of trade
and palms filled with gifts they came
Like a bee dancing over scented bloomers filled with sweet nectar,
excitement bubbled within me and overshadowed my reasoning
Overtaken with excessive demonstrations of exotic flamboyance,
my willpower buckled to childish naivety
Without another thought
I willingly gave my heart to strange seafarers
I went in innocent but was maltreated
Passed on from one seafarer to next
like a shameless whore
My virginity was gone,
my pride crushed and my pains amplified
Left with my fears and insecurities
I was disconnected from reality
Didn’t want anything to do with no one
My faith dissipated by doubts
I fell in the arms of yet another seafarer
This was time for restoration,
but all things come at a cost
The price, though steep, was one to be paid
Simply because enough was really enough!
Like flashes of lightning across dark skies on a stormy night,
days vanished as years passed and many decades went by
Though a queen in my own right, as a slave I served
My dignity was purloined but integrity remained
Nursing a broken body, my spirit persevered
It wasn’t going to last forever
A new dawn was awakening
It was a new season
One where my sons and daughters,
frustrated by the sight of their mother’s anguish would rise up!
They would stand to face the man who had imposed himself for so long
on the woman, whom they called mother
My children arose in arms
Like a broom bundled together by singular purpose,
nothing could deter my brave children
Completely engaged in a struggle
Seemingly going on forever
Giving up was not an option
Through sweat and toil, bloodshed and tears
Standing against the oppressor
It was all or nothing!
Every day came along with demands
Like a hard taskmaster,
freedom stretched out my sons to their very limits
Resolved to win the prize for such determination, cracks were allowed
but capitulation was a fate worse than death
The end was in sight
Victory was ever so close!
As envisioned, the struggles halted
Like a bad marriage that was doomed to failure
My ungodly union with a friendly beast
Had come to an end
Divorce papers drafted and signed
My sons had made me proud
Ceaseless and unrelenting was their persistence
Their compensation, my glory
Like a phoenix, risen from the ashes of servitude
I was reborn with an identity emphasized by my bold colors
Henceforth, I would not seek my own ends
A beacon of hope for my siblings
Ever marching forward, never looking back
Revived and rebranded
I became Ghana!
Acknowledgements:
Evans Okpoti Sowah (PhD)
Nicola Ossei-Gerning (Mrs)
Betty Adomako-Borketey (Mrs)