October 11, 2008

Ghana Journal: Proverbs

The child who roams will never meet the corpse of his mother. For the past few days this Akan proverb has been rattling around in my brain. In America the world seems to be spiraling out of control. At the same time, my wife Elise has broken her arm and has had to depend on the generosity of others. Fortunately, Elise has a huge community of good friends, and I want to thank them all, especially the McCafferty’s, the Leith’s, the Bouton/LeGault’s, the Donnelly’s, and so many others.

In Ghana, proverbs function are a kind of bridge between frank speaking and politeness. In Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe wrote, “Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten.” In a sense, proverbs cook and prepare whatever words or meaning so that they are palatable. The figurative and metaphoric language of proverbs make life livable—and perhaps survivable—in Ghana. As I sit under a coconut tree this morning drinking the just-picked fruit’s milk and gaze out at the Sea of Guinea, the beauty of these vivid metaphors plant me in this place. As a child it was sayings such as “you put the big pot in the little pot” to mean you outdid yourself and “my ass is dragging so low I had to put it in a wheelbarrow to get here” to mean that you’re exhausted where the palm oil of the culture of the South. Here, proverbs and saying work as a kind of shorthand that everyone can recognize and participate in without any sense of exclusion. I am more than simply charmed by these expressions. Rather I find myself seeing the world from a new set of eyes. Here are a few that are particularly juicy, but I’ll leave to you to interpret:

Pataku (fox)argues over messages that are good.

A bad stomach does not know it’s been cured.

You cannot tie a knot without a thumb

He who climbs a good tree is always pushed up.

He who has his pad on his head shows people that he is ready to carry.

No matter how bad your gum tastes, you only have it to lick.

If you are in a hurry to pour the stew, you will pour an uncooked meal.

The back of your hand would not taste as good as your palm.

You talk to a wise child in proverbs not in words.

The one who fetches is the same one who breaks the water pot.

The goat places its white spots where it pleases.

If you always drive your chicks away, the hawk will catch them.

The bathroom was wet before the rain fell.

When you are pulling something from the sky and it is not coming, then something is holding it back.

In the Akan traditional religion, the iconography is based on proverbs. Some of the photos I’ve posted at

Selected Works

3. Poetry

Dave the Potter
A picturebook poem describing the life of the slave potter Dave. Illustrated by Bryan Collier.

Contemporary Poetry of New England
“Contemporary Poetry of New England offers a vivid portrait of a region, its colors and smells, its physical and emotional textures, and the people…. It presents a range of poets, few of whom would call themselves a “region poet,” although each has taken to heart in a private way Frost’s haunting dictum: ‘Locality gives art.’”

--from the Introduction

1. Nonfiction

DJ Kool Herc
The first picturebook biography of the founder of rap and hip hop, DJ Kool Herc!

America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60s
"Phenomenal."–Howard Zinn "Excellent."–New York Times Book Review

Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance
“Harlem Stomp! is a wonderous new book: it celebrates a time, a place, an energy, and a people who refused to be held back and so they created a culture the entire world is still reeling from.”

--George C. Wolfe, writer, director, and producer of the Public Theater, NYC

2. Fiction

A Brush with Napoleon
A seventeen-year-old is plucked out of the Grande Armee to sit in place of Napoleon for a portrait of the Emperor by the artist David.

Casa Azul
"I felt like a kid reading every word on the page! I liked the strains of "magic realism" coming through in Frida's house! Children will relate to this very much! The story is charming and reads like a thriller." –Margarita Aguilar, Assisant Curator, El Museo del Barrio

4. Middle Grade Series

Xtreme Mysteries
These kids love extreme sports--snowboarding, skateboarding, rock climbing, wake boarding--and are ready to fight when the right to do their sport is threatened.