Bio
Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah is the author of the poetry collection, Witness. He edits RawPaper, an academic journal. He is currently living in Vietnam and Thailand.
Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah
Hostile Border
I'm a total population of about 5million
living under a grain of sand with your stretch
I maintain your stacks of lumber awaiting
the next loading onto ships at raw bays
the owners of the wet morning are right
with the same outlines that resemble
a medieval castle, I pay for the branches
of trees porticoes with snow-white balconies
that can be seen from here. While still at a distance
cheerful voices & music can be heard. Because
your son has rejected his father again, preferring
the taverns & brothels of slums to the responsibilities
of a future ruler; the life of the people like the gust
is casted in the sand, it turns out, isn't
at all boring, walking across the street between