kinkan ma’sẹ nana

for ohemmaa nana boatenma

ye ko bisa aberewa, we come to consult
the wise woman, the one ordained by the gods to bring
into the world all that is good in the human race.
we come to see you, nana – nana boatenmaa.
u sit so fine & fair on the ohemmaa adwa,
the queen mother’s silver stool – u who might publicly
rebuke the king when he is mistaken, incite the
village even to war when audacity fails &
stout men quake in fear, or spread soothing words like an
unguent on heart wounds so that we, yr children, might heal;
that we might even forgive those who have treated us
unjustly. we come, nana, to behold yr luster,
the soft, subdued iridescence of yr great wisdom.

©Joseph McNair;2010