Portion - universityofafricanart.org

Orange and kolanut farms
Organized beyond farm barns
Saturated hilly landscapes
Overgrown with wild grapes
Over undulating valleys
Where antelopes rally
Watered by rock springs
Cluttered with mock ringlets
Their soil is dark and sticky
Not quite as stony
Denied the shock of red
Of kids’ vegetable beds
As the color of the soil
A little paler than soya
Around our homesteads.
Suited horticultural pursuits instead
Of heavy animal arable
Which was pliable
But not suitable
For the potter’s table.
Ceramic makers dig for clay
Over the village bay
Down near seasonal stream
Behind abandoned village shrine
Where kaolin was collected
And plants selected