To My Uncle Tarkwa Atta – A Tribute (10)

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr.

Uncle,

I think Jato-Patapaa

has lost it,

completely,

or he is in the Scottish State

of Epiphany…

I am not

ruling out

the sobering

after-effects

of the Mary-Jane

he is so widely known

to toque,

the coke-laced

Cuban cigars

he so recklessly

draws and puffs

around

the clock;

see, see,

Uncle Tee,

this is what

he wrote

in the book

of tears

created to trap

memories of you

in frozen

ice-cream

words:

“Fare thee well,

Prof.:

Let’s hope

to do better

at keeping

the greedy

[Ahwoi] bastards

at bay…

Help to provide

Chief Shit-Bomber

whatever guidance

you can offer

from wherever

you are,

since you are now

free…

Sogakope, July 27, 2012.”

Ps: Prof.,

I am so ashamed

of myself,

I just presented

Nana Konadu

her divorce papers…

and in a version

of the same tribute

on a clansman’s website,

a visitor has tersely

observed:

“This shows,

after all,

that Jato-Patapaa

believes in

the afterlife.”

Maybe he does,

maybe he doesn’t –

if he does,

dear countryman,

he is not telling,

though not believing

in the hereafter

seems more like

Jato-Patapaa….

Anyway,

I don’t know that

there is a common

Ghanaian mode

of mourning

our dead,

seeing some

Umbrella Clansmen

crawl over

one another

as well as

claw

at each other

for a piece

of the meat

of the elephant

which you have

just slaughtered

for your

funereal

feast…

my apologies,

Uncle Ayi Kwei…

7/30/12