“A PLEA FOR MERCY” by Kwesi Brew (Poet)

Kwesi Brew 1928 -2009

A PLEA FOR MERCY


We have come to your shrine to worship

We the sons of the land

The naked cowherd has brought

The cows safely home,

And stands silent with his bamboo flute

Wiping the rain from his brow;

As the birds brood in their nests

Awaiting the dawn with unsung melodies

The shadows crowd on the shore

Pressing their lips against the bosom of the sea;

The peasants home from their labours

Sit by their log-fires

Telling tales of long-ago.

Why should we the sons of the land

Plead unheeded before your shrine?

When our hearts are full of song

And our lips tremble with sadness?

The little firefly vies with the star,

The log-fire with the sun

The water in the calabash

With the mighty Volta,

But we have come in tattered penury

Begging at the door of a Master.



Source: http://afrilingual.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/a-plea-for-mercy-kwesi-brew-for-ghana-lit-week/