Customer Reviews

Talking Drums: An Anthology of Poetry

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Rev. Addo is a truly talented poet! I hope he composes more poetry and prose. My favorites in this book includes I Never Expected to Meet You Here, God. Also, On Resurrection Morning as well as All Alone. Keep up the good work, Rev. Addo!

The very title conjures up thoughts of home-Ghana- waking up, festivals, funerals, enstollment of chiefs, the talking drums are always there! Independence/Republic Days - we were there and can recall the emotions associated with them. Each time I pick up the book, everything floods back. The book covers aspects of culture, faith, age and other issues. Peter is able to mix his experiences from his younger days in Ghana with those of his adopted home and still make people of both places feel at home.

Talkin Drums is a lyrical and poetic journey of world and local events through the eyes of an immigrant who has adopted the United States as his home. It is really a meditation and his perspective on personal, national, international, and local events. Once I started reading I could not put it down. Many of the poems from the fifties and the sixities recall the traditions of his country of birth, Ghana. Others such as Oklahoma City and the Gulf War are cogent poetic meditations on important events in our national life. Other poems are poetic perspectives on the eternal mysteries of life and living. It is a good collection to read in quietness and solitude. You will really love the last entry, it is a cogent and lyrical view of the death of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana.

I am proud of Rev. Addo, an alumnus of the Accra Academy a renowned school in Ghana. I am currently the Principal of this school and most importantly an ardent reader of his works. I have enjoyed reading his collection of poems in Talking Drums and I wish to describe this collection as a literary buffet for seasoned minds and warm hearts. The poems on Ghana reveal a deep sense of patriotism; sincere love for his motherland; distance and time have not changed his feelings for Ghana. This is indeed a great lesson for all citizens in all nations of the world. A journey through this great feast takes the reader into other important issues: The war poems remind us about the evils that wars unleashed on human societies; the Great Expectation is philosophical, something for learned minds. The simple poems Happy Faces and those on Jesus are for young readers. They teach moral truths with gently strokes. The verses on the beauty and serenity of nature, Summer Splendor in Greenwich Village, The Scarecrow, and the Yam Festival are visually stimulating. Reverend Addo has put into his poetry much food for thought for the young and old, urban and rural folks. These good messages have been written in readable, beautiful language, well-seasoned with poetic flavors. Like the drum beats of a skilled drummer his verses invite all to join in a universal dance. I see it as a feast that will give nourishment and sustenance to minds and hearts. Read these poems and taste the buffet!

I have known Rev Addo for 30+ years. These writings sum up his feelings about life and people. He is a philosopher,humorist,theologian, writer, minister, artist, story teller, psychologist, teacher, civil rights advocate, friend, but most of all he has a rare insight into the needs of a person.Two writings that are especially moving to me are "A REMINDER" and "CONTENTMENT". This is a collection every family should possess.