A Letter to Agora

By Kwaku Arthur

Dear Agora,

I say namaste
To your irreplaceable scenery

To the welcoming taste of tea

To chacha-ji and Pana-ji

And terraces as far as my eyes can see

To the ever-so majestic mountains

Scraping the sky

An extension from where I currently lie

To the power which links your people to the lands

With whom we do not simply give but share helping hands

For in giving, one truly receives

Not something we can do without

But something we feel within

You have taught me that one does not simply climb up to you

Climb

Not something its speaker has such little realization of utterance

Rather

One ascends

For in ascending one transcends the domesticated lives we think of as complex

O what little insight I had on the

Complexity of life ’til I met the

Agora woman

With work in abundance and

Children to look after

She keeps these in balance without

A hint of anger.

Little by little you have shown me

their strength

Little by little you have shown me

my own strength

Physically, mentally and, most importantly, the strength of my digestive system

I sit here with a grin, thinking, “is the expiry date really best before or best after?”

Questions I might never figure out

I sit here questioning if I’ll ever be

the same

After hearing these children shouting

my name

As I return to where I came

Agora

Everyone should get the opportunity to experience you

For one can read this and think

Nothing of you

But for those who see you as you are

Think the world of you and may

Never stop