AIR GUITAR

There is hope for individuals who believe that they possess countless talents from which they can tap into. These individuals do not worry much about the existing state of any economy they find themselves in mainly because they are well convinced that they can survive in any economy due to the skills they possess. We all agree to the fact that every country no matter its economic state requires a desirable amount of skilled citizenry to steer its growth .

Many of us however believe that we are talentless. It is common to hear people both the educated and uneducated make such an unguarded but realistic presumption. This can largely be attributed to a few reasons I gathered per the little research I embarked on, mostly by observation. 

The first faction of the individuals who find themselves in the talentless group live with that assumption because they are trying to fit into a talent they do not actually possess. The second faction also desire to possess a trending talent whereas the remaining faction, which is by far the most treacherous of all include people who are well convinced that they were born with no talent or skill.

If you happen to fall into any of these factions, I have a few questions I would want to ask you.  

1.  What are you good at?
2.  Better still what do you do with little or no guidance?
3.  Which skill do you exhibit when you are all alone in your closet?

If you have answers to these questions then there you have it, a talent awaiting your discovery. However if you answer in the negative to any of the above questions, I still have a few more I will want to ask you.

What do you do only to please a lover? Do you share a dance with him/her? Do you sing for him/her? Or do you write poems to appease your soul when he/she leaves you broken-hearted?

If your answers to these questions are in the positive then there you have it, a talent also awaiting your discovery. However if your answer is still in the negative, then I have one last question for you, of which I am confident your answer will be a big YES!

Can you play an Air Guitar? YES YOU CAN! What then is an Air Guitar? 

An Air Guitar is simply a form of dance and movement in which the performer pretends to play an imaginary rock or heavy metal-style electric guitar. Playing an air guitar usually consists of exaggerated strumming and picking motions and is often coupled with loud singing or lip-synching.

There you have it, a talent you easily possess and have no knowledge of. We play our Air Guitar mostly during Church Service or when we find ourselves listening to a song we actually enjoy and love to listen to. One might be tempted to ask, where will a talent like this one take me? How can I build on a talent like this very one?

My answer is simple; you are sitting on a Gold Mine. Kereel “Your Daddy” Blumenkrants, a Russian Air Guitarist was crowned the first-ever Russian Air Guitar World Champion in Oulu, Finland on Friday, 28th August 2015, at the 20th Anniversary of the event. This is obviously not a new talent to the world but has stayed so long its championship has attained the age of 20.

This is a little reminder to the talentless group and to all NOT to take any skill or talent we possess for granted. Let us build on any little skill we possess and God willing you might be the first to take a championship in a talent everyone regards as nothing.

My best regards.
Atsu Dogbey of the Dogbey League

POETIC JUSTICE

THE VISITOR
When the fears of the day

Translates into nightmares at night

And loneliness looks for a cunning way

To exhibit all its skill and might

The only reason to stay awake

Is to await a knock at the door

Hard as it may sound but comforting

The door flies open and all courtesies observed

The warmth of the shared night now

Transforms into beams during the day

And the only reason to awake

Is to catch the first bus heading home

Like a serpent in the Garden of Eden

Complications creep in and vows run out

As though it never really began

The door slams and lights go out

Now the only reason to remain asleep

Is never to awake at the sound of any knock

Etse Dogbey

Man by the Mud

Anxiety, where lies my thought?

Destitution, my feelings keep drawing nearer

Fear, my eyes refuse to shut as I lay

I can’t feel the shine of the day

Nor the breeze that whines at night

Nay! Please stay for the play

Remain the hero on my stage

Clay me with a touch of your sage

As a porter does to his hearth

My thoughts to your sermon I offer

My decisions to your wisdom I’ll beseech forever

My future as your novel you should endeavor

Until my prey I offer to your bubbly as a bouquet

Phoebe Ofori - Ampofo

I SUPPORT THE SUGAR PROJECT CAMPAIGN – MY STORY

My worst fear unraveled when I witnessed first-hand the pain and suffering my father had to go through during his last days living with a diabetic condition.

It was the Harmattan season in December 2014 and my family and I took turns in travelling to his residence until the entire family had moved safely from Accra to spend the Christmas holidays at Tamale in the Northern Region, where he held the position of Principal of a reputable Technical Institute.

Diabetes had taken a better part of my father and unknown to us it had put his life on an inevitable time bomb although he never mentioned it to us. Not to say he was secretive so to speak, he just did not want his family to worry much about his condition. Even though it was obvious he was ill, he still felt the need to sacrifice for us regardless.

I recall a day I had accompanied my father to a Clinic in Accra for his usual but very expensive checkup. The doctor, after the checkup had given him a brown envelope as progress report of his health, detailing also how much time he had left. I did not know this at the time. My father suspecting I may have had an idea of the information concealed in the envelope diverted my attention with his unbeatable sense of humor “these doctors just enjoying me flying down here from Tamale, maybe they just enjoy my coming here” he said. We shared a father-to-son smile while I assisted him down the hospital hallway. We chatted a lot on our way back home just to create the impression to me that he was actually fine although his physical state said otherwise.

Back in Tamale, my twin and I applied a local ointment on his body to ease the itch since all other drugs given him from the hospital had proven futile. The ointment made him feel better but the pain reverted each time we paused. We later decided that my twin and I take turns to apply the medication on his skin to enable him feel alive for a longer time until we both got tired. There were instances where we fell asleep while applying the ointment, because of the routine nature and the long hours it took. Sores that never healed, blurry visions, itchy skin, night blindness, nausea, loss of appetite, amnesia, body pains, hallucinations, tiredness, sleepless nights, frustrations are but a few examples of the associated symptoms he experienced. He slept at all times with the diabetes test kit by his side to facilitate the easy test of his blood sugar at regular time intervals during the night to prevent him from going into an induced coma as instructed by the doctor.

Eventually, we were out of options and desperate as doctors did not also seem to see any light at the end of this diabetic tunnel. My mother came back from the market in Tamale one fateful day with a local ointment in a small container the locals sold to her as a probable cure for diabetes. Upon hearing this, my father made a rather humorous but desperate statement “if this ointment truly works, I’ll jump into the container and lay in there forever” he said. 
All attempts to restore his health back to normal however were unsuccessful till he finally gave up the ghost a few months into the New Year. A real sad and heart-breaking moment and experience.
“3nto wo a, da!”, a common expression in a Ghanaian language(Twi) to mean people tend to be unconcerned when they have not gone through a particular situation. Let us however not live with such a perception as a nation mainly because living with diabetes is a real torment and we do not have to wait for diabetes to take the life of another member of our families or society with its merciless hands or to take any of them through this torment before we act.

Diabetes is a sickness I have nicknamed the "Chairman" of the Board of Council of all minor and major sicknesses and a colleague to the deadly HIV/AIDS with respect to its mortality rate.

Let us come together to educate the Ghanaian populace about diabetes and support the Sugar Project which is an initiative of Kojo Yankson, a seasoned journalist and Host of the Joy FM Super Morning , to campaign against diabetes.

Get tested for diabetes today to know your health status. Always remember that this is NOT a death sentence but a chance to LIVE RIGHT.

I am Atsu Dogbey and this is my story. What is your story?

NO GREY - SPOKEN WORD POETRY

Musical Interlude…. No Grey

FIRST STANZA

Am I really a Christian?

So I’m a staunch Christian yeah?

Of course, I have availed myself as an empty vessel and I am speaking on behalf of God Almighty to his children. 

You can really feel the Holy Spirit work through me right?

Have you however been to my closet where the other me hides lingering?  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Where sin and I have become twins with my birthright stolen …. Jacob and Esau

Cos when I say I'm Adam it tells me I’m Eve………………. Please take a bite of sin

When I stay calm like Abel, sin kills me in cold blood like Cain

So I go seeking shelter in a gym, do some press-ups, grow muscles and come back as strong as Goliath to fight sin but it kills me with only 3 stones to the head… David

I quickly ran to the salon to have my hair locked like Sampson for a disguise… but still “Delilah 'ADAADA' me”.

Behold I begin to dream about being great one day regardless of my sinful nature but like the remaining 11 tribes of Israel, sin sells me into the slavery. Joseph

I become disheartened, go down on my knees and cry; I WANT TO REMAIN A VIRGIN!!!… But sin still mysteriously impregnates me.

Trust me; this is not a story about Mary and Jesus

Cos when I say I’m Jesus, sin betrays me like Judas

“I quit sin!!!” I exclaimed, sin laughs and mocks saying….. Like seriously? 

Till I realized I had to submit to the power of God…… And I did

I professed my love for God the father and the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit

He climbs on top of the mountain promising me the world, Satan

This time around I defeated Sin……. With scriptures

MAN SHALL NOT LEAVE BY BREAD ALONE!!!

Kindly take a bite….

Am I really a Christian?

Musical Interlude…. No Grey

SECOND STANZA

The part of the scripture I keep earnestly,

Love your neighbor as you do yourself

And trust me I really do

You know it’s always darkest before dawn,

So I always do it when you are long gone,

Or possibly sleeping

I sneak out gently, with jeans below my waist

Shouting out loud… AM BACK AGAIN!!!!! ……..  To my lover

She meets me smiling

And we move deeper

To the part of the club labelled DANGER

We squeeze and squeeze even tighter

Till she finally screams out my name ……… PASTOR!!!

But the spirit in me softly whispers…………… NONSENSE!

Feeling all guilty I go again to Church on Sunday

Walking saintly like I would be a priest someday

The bell is rang and my favorite part is coming

“LET US PRAY IN THE WORDS OUR SAVIOR TAUGHT US”

And I’m smiling

I go down on my knees, lifting my hands towards the skies….. Yelling as everyone else is

Our father who art in heaven

Hallowed be thine name.

But please…………… Don’t let your kingdom come

Cos although the Church believes I’m white

OH Lord!!!…………. I know black is even brighter

Am I really a Christian?

Musical Interlude…. No Grey

THIRD STANZA - THE MESSAGE

This message is not about being white or black

Or Black and white

No grey sewed up in your spirit like tie and die

Just remember that the time is now

And the future is bright

So we recommend WHITE

Cos that is  CHRIST

Just remember that the time is now

And the future is bright

So we recommend WHITE

Cos that is CHRIST

Originally composed by:

Etse Dogbey

Song by:

 Jonathan McReynolds