To My Uncle Tarkwa Atta – A Tribute (5)

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr.

And now

you must be

deeply relieved,

even thankful,

for such great

release –

now,

you have only

your own personal care

to mind;

now,

you have

the rest of time

to sleep and

oversleep

and rest

and relax

and join

the great feast

with the great ones;

for you have cheated

defeat as well as

the looming fear

of defeat,

and now

the greedy

bastard couple

are beside themselves

with shame

and ignobility,

for they have been forced

to pretend

they were full of

goodwill

for you –

and now,

their dreams

of shaming you

have turned into

heel-licking flames

of rabid hounds –

yes,

you have cheated

friends and

foes alike,

you have left them

heavy-hearted

and anguished

over their own

mortality,

you have also

been cured

of all your

worldly cares,

and now

you are fully set

to go

in a grand

style

like the

elected king

that you were

by the very skin

of your teeth;

for such

is the sweetness

of success won

in a bloody

street-fight;

a narrow victory

and then

the sweetest

of its kind –

7/27/12