African Heaven by Frank Kwabena Parks *One of My Favorite Poems*

Give me black souls,
Let them be black
Or chocolate brown
Or make them the
Color of dust —
Dust like,
Browner than sand.
But if you can
Please keep them black,
Black.

 Give me some drums;
Let them be three
Or maybe four
And make them black —
Dirty and black:
Of wood,
And dried sheepskin,
But if you will
Just make them peal,
Peal.
Peal loud,
Mutter.
Loud,
Louder yet;
Then soft,
Softer still
Let the drums peal.
Let the calabash
Entwined with beads
With blue Aggrey beads
Resound, wildly
Discordant,
Calmly
Melodious.
 Let the calabash resound
In tune with the drums.
Mingle with these sounds
The clang
Of wood on tin:
Kententsekenken
Ken-tse ken ken ken:
Do give me voices
Ordinary
Ghost voices
Voices of women
And the bass
Of men.
(And screaming babes?)
Let there be dancers,
Broad-shouldered Negroes
Stamping the ground
With naked feet
And half-covered
Women
Swaying, to and fro,
In perfect
Rhythm
To “Tom shikishiki”
And “ken,”
And voices of ghosts
Singing,
Singing!
Let there be
A setting sun above,
Green palms
Around,
A slaughtered fowl
And plenty of
Yams.
And dear Lord,
If the place be
Not too full,
Please
Admit spectators.
They may be
White or
Black.
Admit spectators
That they may
See:
The bleeding fowl,
And yams,
And palms
And dancing ghosts.
¹Odomankoma,
Do admit spectators
That they may
Hear:
Our native songs,
The clang of wood on tin
The tune of beads
And the pealing drums.
²Twerampon, please, please
Admit
Spectators!
That they may
Bask
In the balmy rays
Of the
Evening Sun,
In our lovely
African heaven!
¹Odomankoma : Akan appellation for God
²Twerampon : An Akan appellation for God