Ensnared In The Joy of Edi – To The Little Known Woman

O, how thou could have such piercing effect of soul;

And still remain clueless of the depths you have touched in me.

In such little time did you have me thinking of a lifetime with you;

And if thou would have appeared a little more sooner,

I should still wish I could be born a little less later.

'Tis wearisome for my heart to explore the what-ifs and what-nots of an anticipated life with you.

In this tortuous train of forbidding thoughts, the only reality I see is being with you.

I would love at higher rate if you should but give time and chance sway;

And you need not, if you would, have any fear of my scurried affections;

For this kind of estate, my dear, emerges only from the laughter of the Trinity.

A personage as beautiful and captivating as thee,

Commands a love as timeless as the stars and constant as the sun.

And I would not, even if I could, wish to be free of these chains.

For with a bewitching glance, a quietening smile and a tender voice,

Did you wield your enchantment and rendered me eternally bedazzled.

How the iron bars of my hardened heart could easily dissolve,

In a swift instance of your touch is a mystery to me.

A mystery I fear will assail me for a lifetime and entangle me in its unfathomable cords.

The mystery of your piercingly glorious beauty, the depth of intimate love that allures me,

And the precarious but fascinating adventure I am being called to.

O treacherous state of soul!

A high, upon which my weary self levitates.

Sweet desire that threatens to burst my soul with infinite joy.

A dispiriting chasm that opens the floods of deep despair.

An awakening that puts all my troubles to sleep;

And yet kindles it's own sort of grief!

--- Daniel Ekow Buckman (Sunday, October 31, 2010)

Love - A Happy Gaol.

The sight of a chain bounded around anyone foists your thoughts with illegality, pain and anguish. A prisoner you may call him or her but for what and of what? You may see the chains but he will not be perturbed, you may feel the pain nevertheless s/he'll not be in anguish, it may be illegal and yet legal. S/He is not bothered by the weight of the chains, the boredom of loneliness nor the shrewdness of the gaoler. To be imprisoned by love? Certainly yes!

You never notice that the prisoner is in chains. The ambivalence of a chain and its accompanying gay. The chains of Love.

Haunted By Beauty

I walk about the busy streets and see the myriad faces amidst their duty
The damp air and acrid scent of the sweltering proletariat
Vivifies my sensibilities with a repugnant reminder of the workaday life
But somewhere in the crowd, an enrapturing face arrests my sight and I lose all sense of self
Sometimes it happens in the dawning hours of the day
As I make my way through the hustle and bustle to till the hay
At other times it catches me at dusk as I stride home after a laborious day

But even more timely, it happens in the awkward moments
When I am least accustomed to expect it
Just when I feel my soul sinking beneath the heavy load of existence
A pleasantly beauteous face flashes a captivating smile
A beatific scene throws me into a state of rapture
Or a melodious voice from somewhere says ‘hello’
And I am pierced and wounded anew!

Pierced by the perennial ache that stalks me day and night
Wounded in heart at the exact spot where you wielded your magic
Wounds that opens up to reveal my familiar assailants
The unyielding trio who break through the iron bars of my hardened heart
To wreck a havoc of extreme pleasure and intense pain
My fractious soul is flooded with a molten torrent of Longing
I find myself immersed in a lava of Nostalgia and swarmed by a deluge of Desire

A Longing for what might have been – An increase being; A rest in your arms
Nostalgia for those few and rare moments when I was afforded a tiny glimpse into your soul
Desire for a dream… a hope… the whisper of a thrill… a promise
A promise of something yearned for in my younger years; that remains unknown still

In such moments of merciless assault from Longing, Nostalgia and Desire
I am swept in an ocean of memories and fantasies but in the noise of the waves
A silent voice reminds me that all I’m really missing is you
Oh yes! I am haunted by beauty; I am haunted by YOU!

--- Daniel Ekow Arhin Buckman. ---