Abina - Holli Holdsworth

Girl child of a nameless Tuesday
Waist bent
naked of beads
False worshiper
at the altar of mortar and pestle

Only when the sun dies
her secret soul
carried in the crescent of half moon
emerges beyond the stars
silently cursing
the oppressor's sun

Gives her the power
in a dreamstate

She arises each morn - reborn
before the first cock crow
with the faintest traces
of a smile...


Darko Antwi said...

A message beautifully conveyed! Welldone Holli. There's a kind of literary quality in 'Abina'. But I'm quite destructed by (or attentive to) the licence of your diction.I pray no-one misunderstands the spelling flexibility of your subject. Though you've learnt a lot in Ghana, yet your Canadian accent could not hide his proud-self as you open this wonderful title. I've enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

Love the false worshipper of the mortar and pestle. Conveyed much in a short poem. Thanks for the pleasure.

Anonymous said...

This is a poem about identity. I like the way Ms Holdsworth introduces her subject. Abena is associated with a lot of things but not assimilated into them.

Tuesdays are days that fishermen in Ghana do not go to sea. I am fascinated about why you choose the name of a woman born on this 'nameless Tueday'. I appreciate the fact that you have internalized your experiences in Ghana and have produced a poem worthy of intense discussion. Truly, the meaning of Tuesday weighs heavy on Abena.

Anonymous said...

This is a marvelous poem, so precise and vividly rendered. Thank you for sharing it.