I LOST YOU

I wait for an answer

Not from you but from God,

I have cried all these years waiting to hear from him,

Why did he take you away?

I searched deep inside me but I had no answers.

Together we were like peas in a pod.

Nothing could break us apart

Despite the objections and family situation.

Our love held us together

My yin and your yang

My aura and your power

Your strength and my gentleness

Made us the envy of all around us.

We were sentenced to be together

No chance of freedom from each other

Who wanted freedom in this situation?

Our judgement did not come from man,

Men who made mistakes and regret years later

This was judgement of the heart

Cupid’s arrow hit not one but two hearts.

One day I could not find you,

Our love must have angered the gods,

We did not heed the warning

That the gods were jealous gods

I searched high and low

With my downcast spirit in tow

Following me around

Not making a sound

But I knew it was around me

Already aware that I had lost thee.

Your body was brought to me

Wrapped in a white shroud,

The scars and scratches still raw

As though you had been struck with a claw.

That was the day my heart died.

On my knees I screamed to God,

Pain racked my body

As I clung to my own self

Arms wrapped around me

Rocking me tenderly

“Why oh why?” I cried out to God

“Give me an answer, do you not know everything?”

I lost you just like that.

Now I wander around like a lost soul searching for my love.

I know I have lost you.

(C) Mariska Taylor Darko 2019

Sankofa

                                                                        ADINKRA SYMBOL FOR SANKOFA

 

Forgetting soil and tongue
Is the worst thing you can do said the Mama of the family,
The soil is your life,
The soil brings you to life,
The soil under your shoeless feet
Feels the thump of the drum beat
It speaks to you
The earth throbs with every step you take
My daughter, never forget the land of your birth
Nor the language of your mother tongue.
Keep speaking your mothers language,
The one you heard when you were born.   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
Communicate with the earth in the language of your birth,
Return back from where you came,
Sankofa
Return and cling to the traditions of your existence,
Sankofa
Till the land and plant the corn
Forget those shoes that are worn
Sankofa
Go back to the earth
speak to it
I have returned
To speak to the land of my birth

(c) Mariska Araba Taylor-Darko 2019

CULTURE-A WIDOW MUST NOT SPEAK

I’m missing

Missing you.

That day you died

I shouted but could not even cry

The family swarmed around like bees

Instructing me what to do

Because I now wore the clothes of widowhood.

“A widow must not speak” they said

“Why?” I asked

“It is tradition”

“It is our culture”

“You must be silent when people are around”

“Being chatty makes people think you are enjoying the attention”

“So you must be quiet”

Even in grief they want to control me

Control my emotions

Control my tears

In the name of culture

Now the years have gone by

And I finally meet an elder who explained

“Long ago there were no therapists

Or counsellors

Like we have now

The only way for you to keep you sanity

Was to be silent and watch what was going on around you

But if you began chatting day and night

After all the mourners had left

And you were alone

You would continue chatting to yourself

And end up doing it without knowing it

Sometimes it is wise to listen to the elders

For every act called culture

Has a reason for existing

We just have to search for the reason

(c) Mariska Taylor-Darko 2019