For Bessie Head by Ama Ata Aidoo

The following was written by Ama Ata Aidoo in 1988.

For Bessie Head

To begin with

there’s the small problem of address:

calling you

by the only name some of us

knew you by,

hailing you by titles

you could not possibly

have cared for,

referring you to

strange and clouded

origins that eat into

our past our pain

like prize-winning cassava tubers in

abandoned harvest fields…

Some of us never ever met you.

And who would believe

that but those who know

the tragedies of our land

where

non-meetings,

visions unopening and other such

abortions are

every day reality?

To continue a

confession of sorts,

‘Miss Head’ will just not do

‘Bessie’ too familiar

Bessie Head,

your face swims into focus

through soft clouds of

cigarette smoke and from behind the

much much harder barriers erected by some

quite unbelievable

20th. century philosophy,

saying more of

your strength

than all the tales

would have us think.

For the moment,

we fear and

dare not accept that

given how things

are,

poetry almost becomes

dirges and

not much more.

But

we hold on to knowing

ourselves as daughters of

darklight women

who are so used to Life

– giving it

feeding it –

Death

was always

quite unwelcome;

– taking them by surprise –

an evil peevish brat

to be flattered,

cleaned

oiled

pomaded

over-dressed and perfumed…

We fear to remember:

fatigued as we are by so much

death and dying and

the need to bury and

to mourn.

Bessie Head:

such a fresh ancestress!

If you chance

on a rainy night

to visit,

if you chance

on a sunny day

to pass by,

look in to see

– how well we do

– how hard we fight

– how loud we scream

against the plots

– to kill our souls our bodies too

– to take our land, and

– feed us shit.

Come

benevolently,

Dear Fresh Spirit,

that rejoining

The Others,

you can tell them

now more than ever,

do we need

the support

the energy

to create

recreate and

celebrate…

nothing more

absolutely

nothing less.

Ama Ata Aidoo

Ama Ata Aidoo is a Ghanaian author, playwright, and academic. She was the first woman to receive a degree from the University of Ghana and went on to become a professor of English at the same institution. Aidoo has written several books, including the novel "Changes" and the play "The Dilemma of a Ghost." She is also a recipient of numerous awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in Africa and the African Literature Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. She died on the 31st of May 2023.