POEM: Libation

O Great Amimli, I call you.

     The sun has cracked the earth again.

     Earth, born on Thursday

     Drink from my calabash and

     Bear my message to your elders.

Great Abia, it was you who said that

     He who has only one arrow

     To his bow doesn’t shoot

     From afar; and a cunning orphan

     May wear royal regalia.

Yes, we believe your word to our

     Ancestors that buffalo horns are

     Not caught with a single hand;

     So we work hand in hand.

We also readily agree with you

     That life for an orphan

     Is a matter of

     Hit home and live on or

     Miss it and suffer long.

Hmm, you were not wrong when you said

     That all birds have wings but the fowl

     Doesn’t fly high; for a deer wont

    Wear cattle hoofs and the knee

    Doesn’t wear the crown when the

     Head is there.

Oh, Wuve, god of war! God of my ancestors,

Here is your drink.

Guide and protect us, your children,

With your great wisdom and

Knowledge, for cocoyam is a better friend than roasted yam.

Togbui Bete Kwasi, I summon you:

Drink your son’s wine.

Bestow on us wealth;

Increase our annual produce;

And let us amass children.

Give us long life! And

Your compound shall never fall apart.

Oh, Tata Kwame Kensia! We haven’t forgotten

Your saying that an orphan

Crawls on his belly

And drags himself along without

Minding the thorns that prick him;

And that

While his friends aim from afar he

Gets into

Close range of his target.

Oh, all gods of the blackman, take this drink.

Keep disease and war at bay;

When any orphan’s bow twangs,

Asaase Yaa, may it hit home!

Then we shall offer you more

Drinks.

It is when the mouth

Has more than enough that

Some falls into the beard.

And to you gods who do not take wine

Here is your water. Take it and

Bless us.

Kuse . . .kuse . . . kuse . . .

                                                                                                SAMMY SMILES OFORI