The odyssey of the drunken lover
Began when Yao was hitherto sober
He would rant all day about love
Boast about escapades with his many lovers
Till the sun was ashamed and cowered
Awo was no older in age than her teens
Her plot was to find another man she thinks
Would fall prey to the charming beads
She wore appealingly around her waist
Awaiting the dance of the tribesmen to begin
Legend had it that
When the Agbadza dance
was in full swing
And titled men broke
their backs in dancing
Awo, clad in nothing but waist beads
Would appear and gyrate her hips to the alluring beats
The odyssey of the drunken lover
Persisted when Yao was somewhat sober
He noticed the graceful hips of this erotic dancer
And craved to make of her a bride
This, he thought, would add to his pride
Awo danced all day to please Yao
Painted his name with the throb of her hips
She would occasionally invite him to join in
For she knew the end was near
Only she could not tell him when
Time came, when Awo must go
She disappeared with the wind
Leaving her waist beads behind
With a handwritten note and
That was when his woes began
The odyssey of the drunken lover
Abated when Yao was no more sober
He would wear her beads on his stiff waist
Swallow a bottle of booze - that’s all he ate
And mimic the sensual dance of his lost lover
A poem by:
Kenneth Atsu Dogbey
TDL
