HARMATTAN WIND
    From the  north you came, draped in brown
    Roaring like an old lion.
    Gathered in the folds of your gown
    Tiny granules of gold
    Which you scatter unceremoniously
    Into Subsaharan Africa
    Your icy breath, shifting the landscape
    And serenading willowy palmtress into
    Rhythmless dances
    Making it almost impossible to abandon the
    Comfort of a warm bed
    Heating water for bath,
    The 'siwo', blackened by tongues of
    Wood fire, creaks noisily on its hinges
    A cirlcle of wrinkled faces
    Thoughtful around a bornfire
    Stretch gnarled, calloused hands
    Towards the glimmering yellow center
    To 'Jarue'
    Warming up old bones
    And reliving the  glorious days of Kabu
    When the Ceddos were 'Mansa'
    And 'Dolo' the juice of the day
    Bent figures wrapped in wollen blankets
    Fighting to hold to the last vestiges
    Of warmth
    Scampered towards the fields
    Mothers bundle up children in layers of clothing
    To ward off 'Saeda'
    And rub 'Karite' on young skins
    To moisturize and prevent 'Mboyo'
    Your dreaded companion
    Mentholatum selling like hot Akara
    To alleviate the symptoms of a chapped lip
    School children, in arrays of sweaters
    And 'windbreakers' huddle around
    Bowls of steaming milky 'roi'
    To warm up and nourish empty stomachs
    And to be in school on time to avoid the switch
    That cracks and bleeds the hands
    At this time of the year
    'shameless' lovers tango in limbo
     In the clutter of a one room apartment
     High above, you, the Harmattan
     Dance in a cloud of dust
      Blanketing the whole land
     In gritty fog, that swirls and
    Mockingly settles on everything
    Chasing everyone indoors
    Thus disrupting the idyllic movement
    Of a village life








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