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Date: | Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:23:22 +0000 |
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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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