NECROPHILIA
(family sickness)
When the ragged
Woman died
New family uniform for funerals
Were sewed
She was prettier dead
Than alive-
In that gown stuffed
With pearls
When the homeless
Man died
The family house
Was refurbished
And his casket was
One that could
Refine sun rays into floating
Butterflies
A land was bought
For him at the cemetery
And a giant tombstone erected
On his grave . . .
(There he used to spend
His nights dreaming
Mud huts)
When the hungry
Child died
There was abundance
Of victuals at
The funeral banquet
A fat ram was slaughtered
Schnapps were spilled
Beseeching ancestors to
Admit his frail
Soul into asamando
When the illiterate lad died
Invitation books printed
In coloured fonts
Reached the offices of learned people
All gathered at
The primary school compound
For his funeral
The tender tongues
Of school children staggered
Under heavy vocabulary
Of poetic tributes
Meant for the ears of Awoonor. . .
And my little nephew asked
What about the sick girl
In the abandoned hut?
O when she dies
She'll be
rushed
to the hospital
In an ambulance
©Sarpong Kumankoma
from DUFOKYIE
Photo: ©Lisa Meier
