For Christopher Okigbo Poem by Kojo Owusu

Sacred precinct – skeined,
Crimson pot outwardly darkened;
Hidden rivulet, sooty beauty mother Idoto
River charm, incessant pulse
Of delight in a goddess grotto;
Birth ripples entering – out of course.

Poison reeds, benignant prick,
Moved, genesis breathing stream;
Groping deep for the drowned, stick
Sharpened, the cryptic pot,
The muffled voice, the new cult
On your bank a tragic dream.

Desolate lies the watery strand
And swords and a bloody hand
Fiery crimson is your purple hue
Tainted; the charming voice
No longer poises himself, a violent choice
Mother, such a voice for beasts to undo.

Denied, dry lake, the chasm,
Life danced in awful tatters!
The waves, the ripples all sinking to abysm
Yet I do not weep, river enchantress
Floating on your watery skin
Towards the craggy canal
A labyrinthine book
And poised is my entangling net
And piercing hook
Ready to receive – final.