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Palm Wine Junction by Afiah Obenewaa
Pain creeps in like a warthog
spreading distaste all around in quickening quagmire
reducing men to tottering feebles
as it prowls the street with intent.
It lurks behind barricaded windows
sniffing for an entry into darkened rooms
sparing neither friend nor foe.
Pain slithers along guttered alleys
shiny after sprinkles of rainfall
on cemented floors.
Pain keeps coming
sullen, like an unwelcome guest,
gliding from house to house
leaving behind a sickening odor in fenced dwellings
here in Palm Wine Junction
set far from the main road.
Far in the distance
A woman’s pained voice reverberates
across slim-greased walls.
Another child dead in the night
The third in a row.
Malaria.
Bio
Afiah Obenewaa writes: I am Afiah Obenewaa, a writer living and working in
Accra-Ghana. I am particularly interested in works that feature "everyday ordinary
people". I believe they are the real creators of magic. Some of my works have appeared
in online journals like The Mamba, ActiveMuse, and Hakari.
Author's note
In "Palm Wine Junction", there is an interrogation of an existing belief among certain people that death assumes an animal-like fashion and sneaks in on people under the cover of darkness to snatch especially children away. Every child who dies especially in the night is often believed to be caused by the death spirit, sometimes perceived as a warthog. Advances in medicine in especially recent times have proven that it is actually malaria that causes the death and not a stalking spirit. The belief, however still persists among certain folks.
