Before You Set Forth

You must come shaven before the river bank, child,
And keep your eyes inward.
You must harken to the notes of the river-bird,

Go paddling thru river reeds
At the rising of another sun.
Booze takes you no nearer to your horizon . .
Let the melody of the wind against palm raffias

Echo down the huts of your spirit.
Proceed with words of Achème, the sage,
Inlaid in your mind
And defy the songs of evil men.

Do not go a labyrinth without a guide.
Await invocation before voyage by night
The chewing of kola is revered by the wise
But brings you no nearer to wisdom.
You must bend down at dawn to sow, till and mend
Let twilight guide you home.
New Season is the herald of ripeness.
Before you set forth
You must go amongst friends and foes
And return yam and goat and palm wine not yours
Then embrace your peers,
Turning seaward where ravines sear ambition.
When the overbank appears grey
Seek respite from tales of wisdom
Whose hands open wide to his sons.

Seek respite from wisdom…
Before you go this way
You must dance beneath glowing foliage
Smile at the maidens but go with eagle eyes.
Think of ripeness.
See the maiden at the crossings,
See the supple glow of her beauty
After tracing her footprints on earth and quicksand.
Look to it well, and be firm like roots of baobab.

And when you get to the middle of the river
You must forgo the baskets of last season,
The best catch of a fortnight,
The palm groves behind you
And look to a new melody devised from the old.