Venice masks

Wednesday 23 October 2024

In The Grey Hair of Soyinka - Adjei Agyei-Baah

There’s something mystical
About your grey hair, Baba
Not in its seductive whiteness
Your flower that continues
To bloom on high
Even in its twilight years.

Your hair is much more of a spectacle —
Rising embers that end as fireflies
Fire flights that radiate a dream fulfilled
A dream fulfilled which remains our haven
The expansive shade of the baobab tree
For generations to savour our ageless tales.

This hair indeed envisioned a path
This hair, the stepping stones of African literature
This hair whitens the dark corridors for humanity
Indeed, this hair caused a stir
Perhaps the reason it knows not a fall.

Adjei Agyei-Baah [Eric Adjei Baah] (1977 - 2023) Ghana
  • This poem was presented to Professor Soyinka on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2014 at an event held at the State Banquet Hall in Accra, Ghana, to launch the book Crucible of the Ages: Essays in Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80. Professor Soyinka replied to the poet: “My mop of grey/white hair insists that I ensure that it is given full credit for any panegyric, since I abandoned it ages ago to do whatever it liked, even refusing to take it to the hair-dresser for the occasional attention.”

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