(For Rev.-Col. Eugene Boapea Boamah Sintim[-Brown],
Aka Kwaku Brown,
Retired Chaplain-General of the Ghana Armed Forces, 1941-2017)
Dear God,
you did not
let me die –
Uncle,
you did me
great good
in the long
run,
and I have been
running nonstop
since then –
in the letter to Papa Sintim
at Asiakwa
that morning
Reverend Bromley
returned me,
you said something
about me not
fitting in…
“It is all well
and good,”
Papa Sintim would heave
a deep sigh
and say
as I stood in his study
in front
of his desk,
“It is all well
and good;
grandson,
you are home.”
There is something
excruciatingly
painful
about the passing
of a beloved
kinsman,
legion good times
shared are often
blurred
by the bad;
in your case,
though,
you always
assured me
of your unstinted
love even
in the bleakest
of times,
you also told me
there were
a lot of
things I would
learn
in the righteous
course
of time –
then there was
that one grave
moment
your chance
transit stop
saved my life…
I was green
with jaundice,
Mama thought
it was only
a ploy
to shirk
my daily share
of chores…
that day,
you got deeply
upset
and spoke up
for me,
then you made me
dress up
and took me away
with you,
there was
no time
for me
to take
a bath –
that same day,
when we arrived
at Mom’s
in Accra,
I got admitted
to Korle-Bu…
the doctors said
I had been
within two days
of my death,
that was in June
or July of
nineteen-
seventy-
three,
the year Mom left
for Madison,
Wisconsin,
pretty much
against her will;
she had no other choice,
if the future
was to comfy
and bright –
Uncle,
you once
saved
my life,
Wofa,
you also gave me
back my life…
it would cause
a rift
between Mom
and Auntie Doe,
her cotenant
and kid sister
whose marriage
had landed
on the rocks;
all her four kids
were with her ex…
there is something
bizarre that ill-fate
wreaks on the victim’s
heart
and
mind –
Auntie Doe
would ask me
me to wait
for Mom,
though the clinic
was only a mile
away,
truly,
only a dear mother
can give life
to the dying
child…
Uncle,
you gave me
one more chance
at life,
Dear Mom,
you gave me
life
when all hope
was lost…
Uncle,
it was you
who brought it
all together
once more…
Wofa Brown,
peace,
Uncle,
peace,
be still,
be still
and silent
as a dove…
7/15/17
(RIP)