Ghanaian poet Adjei Agyei-Baah wrote the following poem in response to a Yorùbá song previously published here (see To Palm Wine).
Hopefully readers will find pleasure in comparing and constrasting the two compositions, ideally enjoyed with a calabash of the subject! (1)
To Palm Wine (A Response)
Let me pour you
in the bustle of late bees
For the day’s job is done
and the sun leaves my back
to the bosom of Kuli valley
Let me sip you
in the whiteness of my grey hair
For the firewood will be heavy on my neck
And the way home is winding
As I dread my wife’s whining
Let me sip you
In the coolness of baobab shade
For the lazy had gone to chase rats
While I till the land into communal joy
To celebrate the harvest of moons!
by Adjei Agyei-Baah
Footnotes
- Following the suggestion of Professor Wole Soyinka who gave this recommendation upon reading this poem.
Bio
Adjei Agyei-Baah is the author of Afriku (Red Moon Press, 2016), Ghana, 21 Haiku (Mamba Africa Press, 2017), Piece of My Fart (2018), Finding the Other Door (Mamba Africa Press, 2021) Mamelon a Mamelon (Edition Unicite, 2021) and Scaring Crow (Buttonhook Press, 2022. Adjei is the primary author of the four Haikupedia articles about African haiku. He is the co-founder of the Africa Haiku Network and The Mamba (Africa’s premiere haiku journal). He teaches English and Literature at the University of Ghana’s School of Continuing and Distance Education and is currently pursuing his PhD studies at the University of Waikato.
