a letter from Teju Cole
Nature: in the dream
it sounds like a thump,
a guest rapping
the floor boards from below.
Raccoon, groundhog,
milk snake in the walls,
the sound of summer
perfecting its two-step.
Country cousin,
I work a two-strand braid,
from outside in—
culture na yarn, na jolly
wey man dey take carry
burden for him head,
nature come dey help am
comot the load again.
The Soul Washer
protects another’s life.
Born the same week-day
as the Asante king,
he wears around his neck
a disc of solid gold—
the disc absorbs all evil
lofted at the king—
gold and man agree
to carry such a load.
Nature thumps again—
let me out or let me in,
the sound of summer
perfecting its two-step—
raccoon, groundhog,
milk snake in the walls.
© Teju Cole 2008