The
waking birds and cooing doves
Begin
their songs before the morning sun
Has
begun its rise over the sleeping village.
Their
songs are quiet but constant
Insisting
that life is starting up once again.
As
the sky lightens
The
sweeping begins,
Three
double-bent backs moving slowly across the stones
Gathering
the night’s deposits of leaves from the over-hanging trees
Quiet
voices
Soft sounds
Slow, steady movement
The
palm-straw brooms swish and whisper,
Swish
and whisper
Virtual
extensions of the sweepers’ arms
Efficient
Effective
And as Ghanaian as Akwaaba - “Welcome”
From
the kitchen house come the sounds
Of
quiet voices, dishes being collected
And
breakfast being prepared.
Soon
the oats, eggs, juice, rolls and fruit
Will
appear on the serving table
Quietly
demanding, “Come. The food is ready.”
On
the hilltop birds pause on telephone wires,
Living
notes on a Fante music staff,
In an instant the music vanishes,
But
the song continues.
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