Dirge for a Clan Child

Guns in hands, shooting escapes the mind

Knives in hands, throwing poses difficulty

They say the death of a man never far from him

For whatever footwear you wear

Thorns cannot be a taboo;

So the maimed him, they maimed him  

Storm-fire howls against the oak

Deep rooted in the crust of savanna sands

Chased by wild wise dogs

For usurping ancestral thrones

Four decades and two ago

So the maimed him, they maimed him  

He bore the burdens of the clan

He was the voice of resilience

Against dog’s dreams of another brother-trade across brines

Several sea-waves to come

 So the maimed him, they maimed him  

It was for similar or same crime

That grandfather Kwame was chased

To end his journey in a foreign dream

And even his body was at the Supreme Court

For questioning and for cosmic justice adjudication

So the maimed him, they maimed him

They say Lumumba also craved for too long

 A dream time to bury traces of dog feet

That scratched the fertile soils of his farmland

And transported primal work power

To beyond where clouds and seas conclave

So the maimed him, they maimed him  

Sankara of recent dream faced same

Crucifixion by doggish masked justice

When he rose at the battle front to archive

Our tatted memory and birth a new future

And dream a newer dream for our children

So the maimed him, they maimed him  

and just

yesterday

They maimed him, they maimed him

The clan’s only vocal child

The maimed him, they maimed him  

deep inside the gallows of his birthplace

and darkness fell on the clan-house

at noon.

2:05am. 22/10/2011. Legon