Atukwei Okai writes poem for Black Stars

The following is a poem composed for the Black Stars by Professor Atukwei Okai, Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA) and Head of the GaDangme Education Department, University of Education, Winneba.

THE BLACK STARS SYMPHONY: THE PARABLE OF THE KENTE

(dedicated to Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, Dolly McPherson, Maya Angelou and Salim Ahmed Salim)

I

Ataa Nkpa Ratomir Djukovic Ataa Nkpa Ratomir Djukovic A divine wizard and heavenly witch, A Serbian soothsayer launched from Above, says, to wit:

On the slippery cold Nuremberg-Cologne soccer pitch, Remember what, before the break of dawn, I always preach:

Stretch your God-manufactured Gye Nyame spirit, along the extra mile-

THE SKY IS WITHIN OUR REACH=85! You are what you think- It is all in the mind.

>From the stratosphere where there is no fear, The chant of the ancestors is what we hear:

We, the builders of the Great Zimbabwe out of stones that have locked arms,

We, the carvers from the bosom of rock, of the Labibella Temple,

We, the weavers of the amazing kente Through the kaleidoscope of cooperating colours- (the green passes to the red, the red passes to the gold, =85 and it is a goal!)

GOD IS AN AFRICAN 85 from Ghana ... It is all in the mind! The dribbling Hamidu dramatic Dramani, Like a bronze-melting Damongo dragon, will drag on our forces through the fields of fortune.

GOD IS A GHANAIAN 85 from Africa.

Storming Captain Stephen Appiah, Like an assegai-wielding millennium Masai, will appear And swing into the eye of the suffocating soccer sandstorm. It is all in the mind.

II

(The blue passes to the white, the white passes to the black, the black passes to the mauve- =85 and it is a goal!)

=93Raise the stone, and thou shall find me: Cleave the wood, and I am there!=94

Otto Addo without much ado will join the jumping Asamoah Gyan. In the mountain valleys of Addis Ababa, Let the opponent feel the heat from our feet. Send forth the bouncing democratically global ball, and Michael Essien is there!

In the soccer-soaked alleys of Gabon, let the opponent bear the heat from our feat. Swing your Gye Nyame chameleonic foot, and the record will forever be clear!

Marcus Garvey chants in the Black Stars Square- Richard Kingston is afloat in the air!

III

Abusuapanyin Ratomir Djukovic Abusuapanyin Ratomir Djukovic, A midnight wizard and leap-year witch, ratifies the protocol of sanity which brooks no hitch: Sit you down and as a family, think, plan together and play together with your mind and with your soul in going towards your desired goal: THE GOAL!

IV

Ratomir Djukovic: And at long last the whistle has sounded 85 And the Black Stars, our beloved team, Have triumphed- And thus any negative complex is eternally grounded!

Notes:

- Gye Nyame (Twi language):- Except God, a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol denoting the supremacy of God

- Ataa Nkpa:- An elder (Ga language)

- Abusuapanyin:- Head of Family (Twi language)

- Kente:- It is a colourful fabric normally Hand-woven and worn by the royalty. The use of kente has extended beyond the borders of Ghana to foreign lands like Korea and United States of America. The Americans use it for their academic gowns.