The artistic tribute to Rawlings

And though

We were struck with sorrows amidst anger

At that nighty whirlwind

That stole its path into our land to keep you asleep,

365 days on,

We remain united, though in grief

To sing again,

Your never dying soul to sleep…

And let the dancers

Who danced before your cortege

To the banks of the last river

Re-enact your tale in Nii Yartey’s Musu choreograph

After, we shall ferry

You in the ship built upon the graveyard

Of Aunty Efua’s canoe;

Onward to the sacred land of the great long gones

Then, we shall return

Home to resurrect you; with Ablade Glover’s brushes

On the Michelangelo canvas

And paints expensive as the brand of Da Vinci

At a durbar ground,

Garry Smith’s drums we shall make to roar

Your name & sing your praise

In an orchestrated cacophonic symphony

And, comfort

Our bruised pains with Agya Koo’s

Yaa Amponsah’s strings

And with chorals from the solfas of Nketia

Then, we shall

With, Atukwei’s voice, speak of you on stage

And recreate you

With Awoonor’s words & lines & stanzas on pages…

We shall then breathe—

Breathe into you, a new fresh life;

Life given by man-gods,

Life without end till the end of times

And you shall live

In Ama Ata Aidoo’s paragraphs

And chapters in a prose—

A prose to be read by generations after generation and after generation

Oswald Okaitei is a young multi-award winning Ghanaian poet and arts activist. [email protected]