Living alone

As couple, deliberately and consciously learn to do good to others. Never live your life for yourself alone. There are situations in the course of the relationship when you shall need others to standby you or extend a helping hand. Those you helped at your comfort or peaceful period are those you will find returning good unto you. There are situations you will find out that your husband or wife can't help you or cannot alone help you. If you have lived your life not helping anyone, you shall likely be alone with your load. You are together to effectively help others in your environment and make a mark in the situations of people. This act decorates your relationship more beautifully than gold ornaments. Let your love improve others relationships. Love is sooo sweet.

By:
Dcn George

Glory be to God

“SLEEP WITHOUT WAKE’’
BY: A. A. AMOAKO
Mother's milk gave me suck
Mother's fingers soothed my skin
The night kept mother awake
When baby was sour
5 And that was me!

You vanished into the morning mist of
April's last days, 1998
Precisely how and when is
Locked up in your wooden box
10 Thus severing the Korlebu Cord between
You and me, Premier son of a Premier daughter
Abena's Pioneer child Kwabena
You put me through my infant paces
On Gold Coast's Ga Shikpon
15 Taa taa, tuu tuu, in your maternal steps,
Maame Tutuaa, condelences!

You were brought into view again after
A long chilling month, your face frozen
Into a grim Visage
20 Till you thawed somewhat
Into your familiar self but,
Still, inert, immobile like a
Sculptured bride
To the mourner's wailful gaze.

25 Your last Odumasr words to me
Only a week before were,
"Go in peace, it looks like rain"
Words as auspicious, puzzling, portentous,
Looking back.

THE TITLE
It is normal for man to sleep and wake up. When man sleeps and doesn’t wake up, that means he/she is dead. The title therefore shows that the poem is about death.
THE SPEAKER/TONE
The speaker is a son, grieving over the loss of his mother. The tone is very sorrowful.

CONTENT
In stanza one, the speaker gives account of some of the memorable moments with the mother in his infancy. He speaks of her care and nurture of him. The first part of stanza two recounts how sudden the mother death came. He then sorrowfully tells us of the lifelong bond (Korle-Bu cord) with the mother, which has suddenly been cut by her death. In the third stanza, he gives a touching and vivid description of the mother’s body from the mortuary and when it was laid in state. The speaker in stanza four, bids the mother farewell remembering her last words to him at Odumase. These words, he now finds were appropriate and prophetic.

STRUCTURE AND MEANING
It is a four stanza poem in a free verse. The poem narrates the selfless dedication of mothers to the development of their children. It reminds us of the unpredictability and suddenness of death. The separation of the dead, sent to the morgue and then into the grave, from the living is shown to be very painful and sorrowful. Much more painful is the once smiling and lively face of a mother, being frozen into a strange, cold and frightening look.

THEMES/LESSONS
1.Death is unpredictable.
2.A mother guide’s her child’s development.
3.Death brings separation.

DICTION AND IMAGERY
The diction is somewhat understandable, though few vocabularies are thrown in. The words are graphical and appeal to ones sense of sight and hearing.

LITERARY DEVICES
1.Simile
A.…immobile like a
…Sculptured bride
2.Metaphor
A.Thus severing the Korlebu Cord between
…You and me…
3.Alliteration
A.Mother’s milk…me /m/
B.…soothed…skin /s/
C.…morning mist /m/
D.…Korlebu Cord… /k/
E.…Gold…Ga… /g/
F.…face frozen /f/
G.…week…were /w/
H.…puzzling, portentous /p/
4.Repetition
a.Still, inert, immobile… (they all mean the same thing)
5.Personification
A.The night kept mother awake
6.Onomatopoeia
A.Taa taa, tuu tuu…
7.Euphemism (the use of less offensive or harsh expressions)
A.The title ‘Sleep Without Wake’ is an example
B.‘You were brought into view again after a long chilling month’ instead of ‘you were brought out of the mortuary.’
C.‘wooden box’ instead of ‘coffin.’
8.Synecdoche
A.Mother’s milk gave me suck
B.Mother’s fingers soothed my skin.
9.Apostrophe/Address
A.The speaker addresses the mother directly in the second, third and fourth stanza as if she were alive.
10.Run-on-lines
A.…morning mist of
…April’s last days
B.…how and when is
…locked up…
C.…Korlebu Cord between
…You and me
D.You were brought into view again after
Along chilling month, your face frozen
Into a grim visage
E.…immobile like a
Sculptured bride

Experience love:

The taste of every food is experienced when eaten. Love is truly experienced when shed and released for the enjoyment of he/she. Bottled up love is never to the benefit of either party. What is your companionship, lovemaking, support, care and provisions if it not a testimony of anyone. To experience love, it is has to be available always and enjoyed by him/her. Do not be among those who pride themselves with history, telling the story of how they used to love but cannot say same in their relationships today. Manifest love to the full, fulfill all promises in love, maintain the highest standards of love. Love is sooo sweet.


By:
Dcn George