Posted by Poem
Late evening heen
an overcast of pregnant clouds
dark, heavy celestial movements
Old man strike the Tama they chant
Thunder asunder, desperate angry howls
wails of the winds in anticipated fright
Lightening thunder announced
hot Teem stones dropped on the cursed
Mam Yalla, almighty release the bag
The stars beg for cover
Fright , anticipation and yearning
The dark of AFRICA darken
The soil smells of wet aspirations
And evil jinns run for cover
spiral whirlwinds gather moss and gyrate into the sky
Asunder, amidst joy and dread
fright and anticipation
hope and despair
the new and Old
An African time for rebirth is nigh
All hopes of peanut metropolis high
The worst fears of impassable routes
hopes of fish in the gutters
The actors’ small tiny limbs
Limbs curled and protected by old grannies
The land priestess that know all
The metal buckets positioned
The cracks in the kirinting wall filled
The window space receive the care of fancy head ties
Grandpa lift the counting beads
knowing smile of nostalgia
The past deeply engraved in face folders.
A season is announced
Prayers prescribed holy and pagan rites
satisfy the dieties and the diety
a contradiction long reconciled
Mam Yalla open the bag
The Old Man beat the Tama
The brave boys half naked
and nude young wanna bees filled the street
The lovely young lass ready
growing assets protected
dignity has no price
a dance with temptation will be won again
A Sudden silence reign
an entry rehearsed in the heaven looms
pounding hearts of the young mothers
Afraid of the waves
of the spirit that would claim its sacrifice
Mam Yalla release the bag of blessing mixed
the heavens cry and weep for mankind
the African rain falls
In the second half of the moment
all Africa is reborn in the rain
the beettle bug and the mosquitos
the plants and leaves and the spirogyra
the centipede and millipede and other larvae
The rain is life of hope and glory
a celebration of nature supreme
birth and dead at sea of young happy men
of sacrifice for all
of invitation to young bodily delights
The rainy season is forever tapped in our consciousness
Praying for a blessed and tranquil rainy season
Written by Edrissa Mass Jobe.
Editor’s Note: Edrisa Mass Jobe is the president of GCCI