Odo Nnyew Fie Kwan (or, Love Never Loses Its Way)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Odo Nnyew Fie Kwan (or, Love Never Loses Its Way)
for Aida
I see you making your first stepsA bold decision, if a little foolishSuch choices really should take more thought—more than a year's at least—But since you're set on walking—talking(again, not especially wise)Take also a word of advice
Though you may—you will:Walk soulless streets aloneEnter pacts of love, convenience—or both, let's be honest—With those who won't care;Will search for purpose, and maybe learnYour definition flouts our given standards—and these days, it will—Though the roads you step upon may be paved in nailsAnd broken glass, or molten goldOr shiny stone of old, designed to break you down;Though you may march forth unfulfilled untilYou're lost, lost in faithless scrabblingSeemingly foreverFar from anything resembling homeThen, inevitably, die as you lived(taking steps in a world where—really—walking sucks)Strive for just the one thing
Find a love that really mattersLove that not just needs youAdds to you—understands you(even if I might not, always)Find a tether as you walkFind a lifeline as you sinkAnd no matter how far you roamAs lost as you will ever get—and again, you will—You'll find that love can never lose its way home. [End Page 237]
Ayinde I. Ricco, a born and bred son of Harlem, New York, is an emerging writer who uses his work to explore folklore and history from around the world, particularly Africa. The work included in this issue—"Odo Nnyew Fie Kwan"—calls on inspiration from the Adinkra practice of proverb symbology from Ghana and explores the ways in which its enduring philosophies still apply to the milestones of our lives.
