 |
| Oswald Okaitei |
(To Prof. Atukwei Okai commemorating 1 year after his demise)
Prof. Atukwei Okai is of one of Ghana & Africa’s greatest poets & Spoken word artistes
(deemed as the Father of African Spoken word).
He was the Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers’
Association and former President of the Ghana Association of Writers. Today, exactly a year after
his demise, a young Ghanaian poet/spoken word artiste who found space at his feet to learn the art
(directly and from afar), Oswald Okaitei, has this to tell him.
And now, we plow
The darkness above the wide & silently roaring ocean
And all we hear are the footfalls
Of your indelible rhythm & passion in wander
And though the night
Is ‘umbraly’ dark, we still see
The footprints
Of your soles on the back of the silent waves
At last, we confirm:
Today, ‘who no know go know’;
That you are
The rhythm which runs into our ears at the strike of the ‘dondo’...
That you are
The ancient cast of the resurrected stage
Who re-birthed & outdoored
This sacred shrine where we now pour our libations to the god of words...
That yes, you are!
— you are the Nile that never finishes even at where it ends!
Oswald Okaitei ©
From FIRST HARVEST
(deemed as the Father of African Spoken word).
He was the Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers’
And now, we plow
The darkness above the wide & silently roaring ocean
And all we hear are the footfalls
Of your indelible rhythm & passion in wander
And though the night
Is ‘umbraly’ dark, we still see
The footprints
Of your soles on the back of the silent waves
At last, we confirm:
Today, ‘who no know go know’;
That you are
The rhythm which runs into our ears at the strike of the ‘dondo’...
That you are
The ancient cast of the resurrected stage
Who re-birthed & outdoored
This sacred shrine where we now pour our libations to the god of words...
That yes, you are!
— you are the Nile that never finishes even at where it ends!
Oswald Okaitei ©
From FIRST HARVEST
