Enclosed Household
Published Poem
Y3 firi ha yi ara, / (We are from here)
y3re kc y’ankra / (We bid you no farewells)
nanso y3 nua ne moaa. / (but we are your brothers)
To the world before now let us retrace,
We were here
before the pikes gave way
before sons were torn away
and before brick and iron days.
When the stories never seemed to end,
and the laughter seemed to burn brighter than the fire.
The days when twisted and wooly heads sit round
in an enclosed space,
and the red and yellow mud huts intertwined.
When spears made fence and they held hands,
when the days of Faraday were far away
and the imperialist yet our shore to stain.
When all we had was bark cloth on our backs,
but our pockets heavied with love for our brother.
May We Not Forget,
That The Land Was, Before Power,
What We Were, Before Color,
And The Neighbor, Our Brother.