Kofi Awoonor is Gone / Kofi Awoonor is Here - Nana Kofi Acquah

Photo © Nana Kofi Acquah. Reprinted with permission.

Efo Kofi, our father and poet is gone.
Forcefully ushered into yonder life
By brutal beasts breast-fed on bile
And hopes for virgin-infested harems.

Efo Awoonor is gone home
Taken out on a foreign land
By cowards and imbeciles
Who will never know what
It feels like to have a brain.

Efo, damirifa due.
Due. Due. Due




Nana Kofi Acquah is a long-time contributor to One Ghana, One Voice, and a prolific photographer. The above photo, taken by Nana Kofi Acquah, was so loved by Kofi Awoonor that he printed out a large version of it and displayed it in his house. You can learn more about Nana, his writing, and his photography, on his blog.

This poem is part of our series of poems in memory of Kofi Awoonor. You can learn more about Awoonor and the series here. If you have a poem in memory of Kofi Awoonor, please send it to us at oneghanaonevoice(at)gmail(dot)com.

2 comments:

Darko Antwi said...

I was expecting poems like Acquah's. Of course, our writings can't avoid reference to the circumstance by which Awoonor died. But recreating the "brutal" scene where the professor was "forcefully ushered" into eternity, could be infuriating. The photo is so lively. It wont make you believe Awoonor is gone. 78 is a good old age, but he had so much life in him. Maybe he is not dead. Maybe he is just playing dead. Good job, Acquah!

Delatrophy said...

The poem "Kofi Awoonor is Gone / Kofi Awoonor is Here" - by Nana Kofi Acquah is a typical example of anger poem. The vituperation and frustration are all there in the lines of the short poem, as if they are blurted out with clenched teeth. Indeed, anger is a human emotion that we all feel at one time or another. Perhaps it is not the feeling that is problematic; rather it is our lack of knowledge of how to express anger which leads to so much sadness. How the individual chooses to express this feeling makes all the difference. On the other hand, we all know the inherent danger that when anger is repressed it tends to leak out into all aspects of our lives.


The title “Kofi Awoonor is Gone / Kofi Awoonor is Here” paradoxically portrays how the late Kofi Awoonor might be physically gone to the great beyond but continue to live “here” on earth in our hearts especially his poems and other literary works that will continue to epitomize his invisible presence.
The line “Efo Kofi, our father and poet is gone” shows how fondly is the late Kofi Awoonor is held in high esteem and also hints at how deeply he would be missed by us all”


I join my voice with Nana Kofi Acquah, and the others to say:


“Efo, damirifa due.
Due. Due. Due”