By Kwesi Atta Sakyi 7th October 2012

May you stand tall among all
May you soar high above the dense forests
You are the elect of our forebears and elders
May your manhood stand erect-
An iroko tree in an evil forest
May it subdue, oppress and suppress the undergrowth
May it overcome all snares and tares
Odumgya, Asaase Aban, Otafregya, Okumkom Komfo Adu, Efiewura
( Fire Extinguisher, Government, Fire Eater, Killer of Hunger, Landlord)

May it bulldoze its way through the bramble,
May it pick its way smoothly through the thistle and prickle
May it never suffer choking nor blocking in the evil forest,
May it never doze or hang its head low when on guard duty
At the grand palace of evil forest estate
May your waist be a reservoir of tadpoles
That hatch into croaking toads in evil forest
Pray, may they be replica of the iroko tree

May your roads be strewn with hard labour
As you slave for her favour
May your load ever increase your burden
As you live under a gender curse
May you know no rest
Till with fistfuls of cowries you fill your purse

May your thinking be crowded with cares
As you struggle to please your accursed
May your in-laws triple and quadruple the dowry
May you walk gingerly barefoot on tares
May you sleep in twists and turns
Dreaming and dreaming of populating Ghana,
Or copulating Ghana,

May the akonoba beware
Not to cast furtive glances and stares at the sleeping giant
When the sleeping giant stirs and stands erect
May she go blindfolded to the slaughter
May she sheepishly oblige to the altar
To worship the naked tree whence she was hewn
There, she will be shown and shorn
Of her hairy hubris and nyanga
Or is it the other way around,


May the ganglion spectre stretch in full flight
May the oven be blasted to many degrees kelvin
May her muted sobs subside
And supplanted, her aroused curiosity reign
May her gaping mouth be sewn
As she imbibes holy waters and adukromu nsuo
In cataclysmic ecstacies and explosions they wreathe in twain
A languorous tango at wee hours of a dawn broadcast

Footnotes
• To do nyanga means to drag your feet or dilly dally or even to brag.
• Adukromu nsuo is the cold, sparkling water found in the buttress of a forest giant which is highly revered by the Akans of Ghana as fit to be given to your enamorata or lover.
• Akonoba is the lady of your love or love object.
By Kwesi Atta Sakyi