Harry Garuba

Watersong

(to be chanted to the beat of light drums and flutes)

I

Here the watersong begins…

a gentle ripple across my face
a wavelet of song in my heart

whiff after whiff, the wind woos the waves
a playful courtship of water and wind

wakes the mermaid from hissing streams
deep down in the chambers of the sea where

hyacinths circle terraces with garden temples
far, far away from the river’s wrinkled face

the raucous calls of sailors and seagulls
the storms that whirl the winds and twirl the waters

here the secrets of the reeds lie
here the watersong begins…

ii

now she sets out with a sway of songs on her hips
bearing a bounty of fruits between her lips

why does the wind worship her?
why does the sun court her with jewels?

the sun sows rays in the fields of her flesh
pigeons coo in the nests of her armpit fragrances

a swarm of words seeks the honeycombs of her heart
a warm-blooded cry wakens the tip of her tongue

as words wander wearily across the blankness of this rage
seeking sense from this cluster of sins and clichés

let this penance of a poem live beyond this page

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About The Author

Author

Harry Garuba is a poet, anthologist and scholar. He is the author of the now classic collection, Shadow and Dreams (Ibadan, Nigeria: New Horn, 1980) and edited Voices From the Fringe (Lagos, Malthouse, 1980). An associate professor of English and African Studies at the University of Cape Town, he has a particular interest in the subjectivities that have emerged in Africa in the aftermath of colonialism and modernity. He is widely published in African literature and has held fellowships at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas at Austin and the Web Du Bois Institute, Harvard University.