What Does It Say About Its Wearer, That Noble Bearer? Poem by Mark Heathcote

On display, it's been described as a burial-head mask?
Or-a-mask that's been worn, during some annual festival-
of African origin made in the second half 19th century
what does it say about its wearer, that noble bearer?
Well, it involves a mixture of subjects' figures.
Indicating community involvement, what we have is
a prisoner, a preacher, a musician, and a soldier.

So could the bearer be a man of some importance
a speaker, maybe he was a mayor, a judge
you know—a justice of the peace and such.
These carved persons, look cheerful so I guess
it must have been carved out of precious wood
garlanded with leaves around the base
a bespoke piece commissioned for a communal event.

What's more, it's pigmented richly with iron and gold.
So here we have a mask that's outlandish in style,
yet the bearer must have held a position of kingly authority
and acquired an enormous amount of respect
it looks primitive but, yet its theme is contemporary
it tells of a tell-tale story of shared humanity.
That's little in common or parity with us in the west today.