POETRY Reading: The River’s Prayer, by Kukua Sackey

Performed by Val Cole

The River’s Prayer

The land lays my path
before my journey starts.
Bends me round rocks,
like we’re dancing a tango.

At times, the land flattens—
so I laze and giggle—
or slopes downward,
so I tumble and roar.

May no man dam me
and leave me damned,
straying me from the path
the land has laid.

May the sun not burn,
so that I rise and fade;
the earth not be parched,
so that it drinks me up;
the rains not be so heavy
that they hasten my journey.

Let me take with me
the secrets of lovers
who bathed in me.

Let me take with me
the sins of worshippers
who were baptized in me.

Let me take with me
salt from the land
to give the sea taste.

Let me take with me
soil from the land
to tell where I’m from.

Let the land lead me
to my destined sea …
a sea almost too big
to feel the land.

Author: poetryfest

Submit your Poetry to the Festival. Three Options: 1) To post. 2) To have performed by an actor 3) To be made into a film. View all posts by poetryfest