Ode to Gonasua
Henneh Kyereh Kwaku
i have come, Maame—
to where the trees stood
& made a shade for your kitchen—
to the sweet-sour taste of atɔma
to the mangoes you gathered
on your way from the farm—
to roasted maize
& the smell of leftover ampesi on fire.
i know my mother has framed
your pictures—you are
a young woman, with your scarf
neatly wrapped around
your head—in another,
your braided hair stands on the cliffs
of your head—you, beautiful,
mother of my mother—
let me take this picture of you
to show my kids i had a grandma too.
Maame, i have come to listen
to your fireside stories—
of talking mahoganies & talking squirrels,
of dwarfs & water spirits—
i have come to your fireplace to say
i am also telling stories & sometimes
i make the trees talk too. & sometimes
they save us from evil men who have
sold our lands.
on my way to Gonasua, i brought you
food from my mother—where
should i put it & what do i tell her?
i have come, Maame—
to where the trees stood
& made a shade for your kitchen—
to the sweet-sour taste of atɔma
to the mangoes you gathered
on your way from the farm—
to roasted maize
& the smell of leftover ampesi on fire.
i know my mother has framed
your pictures—you are
a young woman, with your scarf
neatly wrapped around
your head—in another,
your braided hair stands on the cliffs
of your head—you, beautiful,
mother of my mother—
let me take this picture of you
to show my kids i had a grandma too.
Maame, i have come to listen
to your fireside stories—
of talking mahoganies & talking squirrels,
of dwarfs & water spirits—
i have come to your fireplace to say
i am also telling stories & sometimes
i make the trees talk too. & sometimes
they save us from evil men who have
sold our lands.
on my way to Gonasua, i brought you
food from my mother—where
should i put it & what do i tell her?
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Henneh Kyereh Kwaku is a poet of Bono heritage and the author of Revolution of the Scavengers (African Poetry Book Fund / Akashic Books, 2020). A 2022 resident at the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora, and a recipient of the 2020 Samira Bawumia Literature Prize, he is originally from Gonasua in the Jaman South Municipality (Bono Region) of Ghana.
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