THE BEAUTY IN OUR FEAST

Da bi me kɔɔ nwuramu
…keyinka
Me kɔ huu saman
…keyinka
Saman nkitinkiti
…keyinka
Na me suro o
…keyinka
Na me suro papa
…keyinka
Ɔpumaa ne tuo
…keyinka
Me nso me pumaa me tuo
…keyinka
Ɔde kyerɛ me so
Me nso me de kyerɛ ne so
…keyinka
Atika atika
…ate pooo

I
As the tides of waves dance on a sea
…only to turn into bubbles at the shore
So will a people who jump on other ships on same sea
…lose their ships and end up empty and dejected at a sandy shore
Where crabs of oblivion will hurt
As even thoughts of other animals will make them fret
…and turn into cowardly beings prone to bullies
…and harvest scares from mere dead fishes in shark bellies
So shun your histories and its high stories at your own risk
No culture will think you worthy of inclusion on their own disk

IIb
It is funny how we persistently act self-chewing-snakes
Killing our cultures and burning on critical stakes!
It is sad how we consistently empty the wealth in our cultures
When we need to shape their beautiful structures
…to fix the horrifying fractures
It is horrible how we insistently discard our own
…to live on others who rightfully rewrite us as a people on cultural loan
But here we are, beautiful in our diversity
Here we are, colorful in our complexity
Here we are, powerful, if we use our publicity
We fall not short to shush and shun our captains
…and sink our ships, by lowering our cultural curtains
“Mine” can never be compared to a sharing
…let alone a “pestying”
Let our beauty shine to bring on our nation, a positive bearing

III
Legendary pictures!
Artifacts and their pictures!
Powerful artists and their beautiful works!
Powerful writers and their writing desks!
Powerful skins which have hosted our powerful people!
Even clothes and shoes of our best during festivals and national milestones can act charms to attract other people
So what are we waiting for?

IIIb
What are we waiting for?
Do we need canes of embarrament to furnish our National Museum with the right artifacts?
What are we waiting for?
Do we need ancestral slaps to build our Heritage sites on the virtual world?
What are we waiting for?
Do we need to see ancestral tears in order to chase our stolen cultural artifacts?
What are we waiting for?
Do we need to sit in this shame of “a historyless nation” in this ridiculing world?
We need to harness braveness from the blood which poured to save us
We need to tap determination from the torment of lost objects whose stilettos loudly deafen us
We need to build us on this field whose shield
…is in the powerful cultures we wield
But we need to rebrand us to love us
…and things which are ours

IV
So love our songs and sing along!
Love our poems and recite along!
Love our stories and tell them to others!
Love our arts and interpret them to others!
One mouth can push ten ears
…to push a hundred ears
…who in turn can push thousands of ears
…to love us
Based on our reasoning, artistry and ingenuity
To overturn the narrative of us in the belly of poverty!

V
So inspire!
Inspire the arts of our cultures
From our games to our names right to our gestures!
Oh inspire!
Act like the witty, intelligent Ananse to repackage our arts our stories
Let historians be protected to paint stories as they see!
Repackage to let the world run to want to be
…here, just to see
There are linguists staff and diverse power masks!
There are legendary names and their powerful tasks!
There are beautiful pots and their meaningful shots!
There are powerful languages and their authorities
There are self speaking cloths and their powerful words
There are beautiful wildlife and colorful birds!
Every sector can be a factor
In shaping us to wow others
All we need is us
…to drive our forces to work
To build the dream our ancestors lived
In order to fix the broken patches
Which put on us this historyless scratches
In order to live with our heads held high
And our heights hailed here
So signs will cancel the sighs and erase our confusion and shame
…the confusion and shame which push our heads to bow
…and act lame in our horrid fame
Long live our beautiful cultures!
Long live Ghana!
Long live Africa
And long live partners who are really for us!
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © July 15, 2021