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Elegy to Kofi Awoonor

Wed, 2 Oct 2013 Source: Sakyi, Kwesi Atta

By Kwesi Atta Sakyi 29th September 2013

Death has claimed,

What shall we mortals exclaim,

Kofi has gone home

To his ancestral Anlo dome

What a loss to Mother Ghana

Oh what a blow to scion of Senghor’s Negritude,

In poems, drama, prose, dirge, and literary works

He lifted us to higher latitude and altitude

From the torrid to the frigid, he conditioned our attitude

Kofi fought gallant battles on paper and in academia

And left us legacies of his lore of tome to ponder

Long after he is gone yonder

His profuse writings, a wonder

Only yesterday, Kofi was here,

But today at GAW (Ghana Association of Writers) roll call,

Kofi’s name was called

And called, and called,

But silence answered in discordant accord

Kofi had crossed the river to the land of no return

Some say his writings raised rancour,

Others aver he spoke his mind aloud,

Are we not our thoughts in public allowed,

In Nkrumah’s land of Freedom and Justice

Kofi spat out the word, and freed his soul

What was writ, was bit of his wit which hit and bit

Fearless Kofi Awoonor vomited the unsayable

When he exclaimed, “This Earth, my Brother”

Kofi has gone the way of the earth,

Smitten by death’s rod,

The path every human of woman born shall trod,

Be they good, rough or bad

But Kofi was tough, a celebrated gem of a wacko Bard

At birth, a new literary bud

At death, a renowned bard

He played his part in thespian mode

Man came to do, but not undo what was done

By his Creator at his creation in the Grand Design

Kofi more than played his part in many roles of life’s drama,

At his untimely exit in Nairobi

In tears galore he left us bereft

Much the poorer for loss of his sagacity

But consoled our souls that he left for a better city

Dammirifa due!

©2013 Contact: [email protected]

By Kwesi Atta Sakyi 29/09/13

Columnist: Sakyi, Kwesi Atta