Among The Sharps of The Forest - Prince Mensah

- A Dirge for Prof. Kofi Awoonor


Fading through prisms
Of changing phases –
Crying faces in
Places ploughed through by chaos –
This earth, my brother, has become something else
Something that elicits too much consternation

I am on the world’s extreme corner

Mɛ gbɔ na? Mɛ gbɔ na? Mɛ gbɔ na?
Only Mawu can unravel this cataclysm –
Godforsaken people with guns run amok among us –
Modern day Huns who rush at us for no reason
Upsetting us with their disruptive plans –
All at once, all at once

I am on the world’s extreme corner

I am an orphan, suddenly an orphan
Made so by the darkening of father sun
By the reddening of mother moon –
All too soon the sacred forest has become a haunt
Of restless spirits among stoic and sullen trees –
The wind tastes like salty tears
It has become a song of sorrow
Amid a gloom with no accommodation
For uncertainties of tomorrow –
The heart is naked against the storm

If I turn here, the rain beats me
If I turn there the sun burns me


Like unexpected rain, pain has swept through our land –
Death in Nairobi; the subterfuge of fate at Westgate
We go to huts where sometime in yesteryears,
We laughed and cried over mundane matters –
Where we amalgamated struggle and success
And gave them the name, Life
There is no one at the huts, no one
To welcome us when we pass by –
No one to ask us of how our days went –

If I turn here, the rain beats me
If I turn there the sun burns me


The ultimate violation has occurred among us –
I am no longer at ease with my own people
Their emotions are now tools for foreign gods
Their ways have become the ways of concupiscence –
Our trust for one another has been breached by bloodthirstiness
I do not know how I shall fare
Now that the lion has been stirred in his den –
Kpeti is forlorn; Kpeti’s great household is forlorn –
A mist of melancholy has descended upon our land –

Alas! A snake has bitten me
My right arm is broken,
And the tree on which I lean is fallen.


Why do you not return when we call for you?
Why have you left us in the middle of forests unknown?
Why do we hear fading echoes of your footsteps?
The face of the sky is not welcoming –
We do not know whether it is day or night
But revenge shall not satisfy our anger –
We shall go to your favorite places and breathe in the air,
We shall sit where you sat, sing the songs you loved –
As the leaves heave and fall in arms of wind,
As teardrops moisturize our desiccated thoughts

Alas! A snake has bitten me
My right arm is broken,
And the tree on which I lean is fallen.


This world is good at exiling its heroes
And strangler trees flourish in these forests –
Forgive Nyidevu, Kpeti and Kove –
They all stand here with Agosi
Drowning in the agony of your loss
I see black and red – black for unspeakable evil,
Red for courage amid carnage –
Closure and peace are our desiderata, we wonder where
This adamant betrothal to brutality came from,
We wonder why we were not allowed to say goodbye –

While we suffer, and eat sand
And the crow and the vulture
Hover always above our broken fences
And strangers walk over our portion.


The village is filled with wailing
Older men beat their chests and gulp down
Rising urges to cry out against the sun –
The women cannot hold themselves together
The sons are distraught, the daughters are dejected
The house is colored with desolation –
But we will not let the cowards win
We shall face the future with the courage you taught us
We shall live in aluta continua against death
We shall not let you pass away

While we suffer, and eat sand
And the crow and the vulture
Hover always above our broken fences
And strangers walk over our portion.


Mɛ gbɔ na? Mɛ gbɔ na? Mɛ gbɔ na?
Only Mawu can unravel this cataclysm –
Godforsaken people with guns run amok among us –
Modern day Huns who rush at us for no reason
Upsetting us with their disruptive plans –
All at once, all at once

I am on the world’s extreme corner

Fading through prisms
Of changing phases –
Crying faces in
Places ploughed through by chaos –
This earth, my brother, has become something else
Something that elicits too much consternation

I am on the world’s extreme corner



Prince Mensah is a contributing editor to One Ghana, One Voice. "Among The Sharps of The Forest" contains excerpts from Kofi Awoonor's poem "Songs of Sorrow".

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.


4 comments:

Delatrophy said...

"Among The Sharps of The Forest" - by Prince Mensah is very remarkable poem in many sense of the word. Remarkable in the sense that it makes copious allusions not only to the late Prof. Kofi Awoonor but also to the enigmatic characters within Awoonor's renowned poem - "Songs of Sorrow." This is a very ingenious way of driving a sorrowful point straight home. Very experimental indeed. It is my beliefs that this fascinating poem may make even the legendary sad dirges of Awoonor resound even more melancholy as we mourn him.


Well done, Prince Mensah. Bravo!

Delatrophy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delatrophy said...

Well-done, Prince Mensah once again. I believe that Prof. Kofi Awoonor would have been very pleased and excited about this engaging poem you have written in memory of him.


Update on Prof. Kofi Awoonor.


A solemn ceremony was held yesterday at the Lashibi Funeral Home to send home Professor Kofi Awoonor, the immediate past Chairman of the Council of State, who was killed in a crossfire in Kenya on September 21, 2013.

The strictly private cremation ceremony, held on the wishes of the late Professor, was attended by his family members, some government officials and representatives of political parties.

The ceremony, which lasted less than one hour, was interspersed with the singing of traditional dirges and hymns and poetry recital.

Rites

Libation was performed, preceded by a prayer by Rev. F.M. Amevenku and the singing of the Methodist hymn, “When Peace Like a River”.

A selection of poems authored by the late Prof. Awoonor were recited at the funeral by his family members.

Prof. Kofi Anyidoho recited “To Feed Our People”; Ms Sika Awoonor recited “The Light Is On”, while “The New Boy On the Block” was recited by Kekeli Awoonor.

“Across a New Dawn” was recited by Afetsi Awoonor, while Tenu Awoonor did “What Brought Me Here?”, with “Those Gone Ahead” recited by Kalefe Awoonor and “Up in the Garden” by Dunyo Awoonor.

“Remembrance” was recited by Sika Awoonor, while Prof. Anyidoho recited “For Ezeki”.

As part of the programme, a special tribute and ‘thank you’ speech eulogising the “Great Son” of the land was read by Ms Sika Awoonor.

A brother of the late professor, Dr Koku Awoonor, also read a special statement by the deceased.

The late Prof. Awoonor was killed in a gun attack in Kenya on Saturday, September 21, 2013.

Wishes

The family, in planning the funeral of the late statesman, was guided by the declaration he had made on what should not be done on his death.

Among the declarations by the late Agbonugla of Anlo were that his remains be transferred to the funeral home at Lashibi. He also warned that the pre-burial ceremony for him should not last more than one hour.

The late professor had also declared that there should not be wailing and crying at the ceremony and also indicated a particular spot at his home town, Weta in the Volta Region, where he would have a “final and eternal rest”.

The cremation ceremony was held in fulfilment of his directive.

A national funeral will be held for him on October 11, with the final rites being done on November 9, 2013.



By Timothy Gobah/Daily Graphic/Ghana

Darko Antwi said...

Magnificent. I'm enthralled by Prince's 'Among The Sharps of The Forest'. The Most Senior Poet, Dela has hit the right mark on this poem. Pretty scheduled and so edifying an appreciation.

May I add that I have enjoyed the verses of Oswald and Bismark. Some talented youth we have in our midst!

*MSP, I like the notes you added to your commentary on my poem. It has given me a new look of things. Thank you.