THE NIGHT BEFORE ELECTIONS

Twas the night before elections, when all through the country
Some people were sleeping and others awake.
The ballot papers and boxes where stocked up with care,
In hopes that voters soon would queue up.

Some citizens were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of their various political parties danced in their heads.
And the police in their uniform, and journalist with their pens and recorders,
Had just settled to face the long ‘battle’ ahead.

The moon was full and the stars shone brightly,
Shone so brightly it could only mean one thing the lights were off.
The full moon gently outlining the dust covered houses,
From that uncompleted road heaped with sand that was never to be.

Out on the streets where the few without homes,
Preparing their make-shift beds to call it a night.
For them it was just another night,
Until morning when the whole cycle of survival begun again.

The lavender hill beach was eerily quiet
Littered with plastic waste and other unmentionables.
For the people just loved their beaches that way,
And the metropolitan assembly couldn’t give a damn.

The hospitals were busy and full to its capacity,
For illness knew not whether it was the eve to a Ghanaian election.
More patients lying on benches and sitting in plastic chairs,
Praying they be cured so their thumb could secure them a better future tomorrow and a decent bed next time illness struck!

The big eight in their respective parlors,
Wondering what fate awaited them tomorrow.
For they had crisscrossed the country singing to the masses,
Now was the time for Ghana to vote and decide who sung more beautifully.

And somewhere in the quiet city,
The digital clock by someone’s bed turned 00:01GMT.
Ushering in 7th December 2012 and I heard a voice far away say,
“Peaceful elections to Ghana and may the best candidate win!!”