Collected Poems

Take that avid-eyed old man

full horn in veined hand

unsteadied by age who calls

forward his fathers tilting the horn

with amazing skill for a hand

so tremulous till grudging trickles

break through white froth

at the brim and course down

the curved side to fine point

of sacrifice ant-hole-size in earth:

come together all-powerful spirits

and drink; no need to scramble

there's enough for all!

Or when the offering of yams

is due who sends the lively

errand son to scour the barn

and bring a sacrifice fit

for the mighty dead! Naive

eager to excel the child

returns in sweat lumbering

the heavy pride of his father's harvest:

ignorant child, all ears and no eyes!

is that the biggest in my barn?

I said the biggest!

Only then does the nimble child

perceive a surreptitious fist quickly shown

and withdrawn again—and break through

wisdom's lashing cordon to welcoming smiles

of initiation. He makes the journey

of the neophyte to bring home a ritual