The Wraith Island Poem by Kojo Owusu

Forbidden to reach our destination
We scoured the edge of the macabre
Flitting the crypts of the grotesque
Penetrating the realm of phantasmagoric
And nightmarish creatures – battling
Armed with subtle ingenuity, finally
We embarked on the pulsing waves
Haunted by raging storm – the traveler
Ordained – plagued to plunge into the
Underworld - the archetypal quester
Journey through eternal darkness and chaos
This is the time to recite incantations
And invoke my affinity with the gods.
Embarked on the waves of torment
With unconcerned bruises we cruised
The torrent to the wraith island
The wraith island! Tossed on perilous
Seas we reached a place we could call home.
We reached the wraith island
We approached the unapproachable
The island - epitome of the hearth
The essence of our journey.
Here we were filled again with idyllic
Ambience. Here serenity engulfed us
And we felt at ease. The confrontation
With the specks benevolent unsettled
Us somewhat. They were strange
Creatures yet were at peace with us
They were tolerant – we were able to
Identify with them. To them a stranger
Is a hero and it is strange, a marvelous
Story that the bewildered traveler
Cannot recount kindness and care
From the heart of an island –
Watery beasts besieging it.
It was a place we could settle
The land striding vast
It behooves them to make sure
That strangers and foreigners offer
Propitiations to mother earth –
Guardian of fertility
Nature was desirous to grant in abundance
Regenerative vitality – calmness reigned
We were given a vast land to till
The bona fide owner of the land
Chastised us unrelentingly until
For not approaching him with
Sacrificial offers before tilling the land
We complied and did exactly what
He wanted for his command cannot be
Countermanded. Pleased. He gave us magical
Seeds that springs from the earth in a jiffy.
This incident made us understood the wraiths
And their more bizarre neighbors in depth.
Their insatiable thirst for fairness and equity
Egalitarianism was their edifice – stronghold.
A tiny creature was able to wreak havoc
And to plunge us into chaos and ambiguous
Situation, the tiny creature was overlooked
When the king of the island summoned
All the creatures. So he brazenly disobeyed
The king until he was granted his wish – right.
A strange land – island separated from
Dissenting roars and tumult
Of the raging sea. It stood in the middle
Of the sea- an island of sanity in an ocean
Of madness. The land was an ideal place
For us to have stayed. But we were haunted
By nightmarish dreams. We felt a powerful
Urge to desert the land. Cascade of peace
Justice, equality what man is yearning for
Things that have validity – permanency.
Yet the urge to travel through eternal chaos
And pains and toils was strong
The desire to scour the lowermost echelons
Of the underworld was uncontrollable
The genuine ambience of the island
Its splendid luster and magnificent beauty
Diminished for there was battle in
Our minds – we relented
Our volatile conscience submitted
Eager to continue our ordained journey
We left the wraith island
Through pains. Toils tears and blood
We deserted the wraith island
And again embarked on our quest
To the underworld.