On the strings
Binding mortals together, you lay your dagger
And set apart,
The centre that holds us together…

You set
Our household in despair
And unending
Tears and sorrows, you fill our souls and hearts with...

You are...
Yes, a silent murderer, surely, you are:
You invade the joy that fills
The household of mortality and leave endless mourning songs on our tongues...

In your presence,
Where is the refuge of mortality?
In your eyes,
What is the value of mortality’s breath on this earth?

From nowhere
You have stepped your feet in our territory
Draining breaths
And raiding souls...alas, you plant the seed of fear in our hearts...

You fill
Our thoughts with forts of weary
And crush
Our hearts with dagger of fatality…

You set
Deafening quake and pains in our souls
And wane the survival
Of mankind on this shore with your arrival…

Ebola—
You, innocent faced murderer
Who has found
A niche in the home of strong-but-weak mortals...

Ebola,
Many you have set on that Voyage Of No Return¬¬—
Their wails, alas,
We hear in the silent night as their bloods smell on your arms…

You are
A scare to our existence
For life is death
And death is life with the arrival of your presence…

Ebola,
You’re but, a thief of souls...
Murderer!
Ebola, O’ yes, you are a silent ******—

You are
The silent murderer reaping our souls and setting down our household—
You are the murderer
Yet, feared to be approached by even the 'mighties'…

You are
An unseen beast; you’re a barbaric stranger...
You are but,
A silent murderer in our home...

We wholly
Hate you from the depth of our souls—
Dark or white,
Ebola, yes, we truly all hate you!


Oswald Okaitei
(World Poetry Theatre Ambassador from Ghana Project)

From WHISPERS OF A HEART
(C) 2014