EI ABAYIFOƆ YI

Yaa I
Abena- Boɔ is a mysterious being, I swear!
See, just last week, Maame Ama’s cat
Escaped Efo Dzakpasu’s bɔtɔ
And found an opening in her window
So decided to find some protection from its assailant
In her room
All we repeatedly heard was
Ei abayifoɔ yi! Ɔbayifoɔ, ɛnɛ deɛ w’ahyia!
By the time we reached there
The poor Nyame Bɛkyerɛ had joined its ancestral cats
Painfully through her banku ta

Yaa II
That is not all o
Just five days back,
Akua Mansa woke up at dawn to sweep
Only to see this same Abena-Boɔ
Sitting in front of her room with something whitish
Smeared all over her face
Akua shouted and run off shouting
“Kakai o! Kakai!”
The next morning, Eno Abena made a song out of “Abayifoɔ yi a mo wɔ fie ha yi a!”

Yaa III
As if that is not enough
Four days ago,
Her mother came with her sisters to visit her
She poured salt all over them
And swept their footsteps
Like they were some kind of garbage disposed at her doorsteps
All the while shouting “ei abayifoɔ o!”

Yaa IV
As for what happened three days ago,
I was so scandalized!
We were all outside when some cockroach
Being chased by some fowls passed by
She quickly picked praye-tia and started hitting it
All the while shouting “hwɛ hwɛ hwɛ hwɛ, hwɛ abayifoɔ no!”

Yaa V
Just yesterday
We were all sleeping when we heard
“Obi mmɛgye me o
Abayifoɔ yi pɛ sɛ wɔn kyere me we o”
We rushed in to see
What she termed witchcraft
Was the shadows of the swaying palm fronds
Elongated by the outside light
Awurade!

Yaa VI
Don’t laugh!
What at all is this?
What is the definition of witchcraft?
No wonder she has no job
And lives off her poor old husband
Who comes through once in a fortnight

Yaa VII
But what could be the cause of her shadow fearing?
Aha! It could be that new pastor
What is that his name again?
Wɔ Pɛ Wo Akum Wo
Causing confusion after spending her few pesewas
Mɔbɔ!

Kofi I
So all you know is the name of the pastor?
You mean all you’ve seen are these few scenarios?
Then listen and listen well
The name of her church is He Will Kill Your Enemies Jesus the Just Church
Before I travelled, my young son asked me to watch her
So he could show me something
He just clapped
And Eno Abena somersaulted three times
Don’t laugh

Kofi II
I gave him a beating and warned him
But Eno went on to sprinkle stone salt in front of our door
I felt somewhat afraid
I mean, clapping and foot stumping are all they do at their church
Why then did it startle her?
And coming from a child of 6?
Stop laughing Yaa
Maybe she found herself in place of Satan
And felt the clap aiming at her
But truthfully, if this is to continue
I fear for her
Ah! There comes my cue, my rice is burning
You know wifey has travelled
See you later!
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © April 15, 2019