Poetry: Ebo Taylor sings that love and death walk hand in hand

By: Natasha Aidoo

my other home

is made of songs, smells, memories,

as crystal clear as my need to breathe.

the word sodade expresses

that longing

that aching

that can’t be properly put

into mortal words:

what i feel in my bones

when sometimes i think of Ghana.

it’s not just about my roots,

it’s beyond any conceptualization.

it’s when

my heart aches for a place i’ve only been once

it’s when

i laugh at some lyrics in twi while the melodies flow through my veins

it’s when

nothing tastes as cozy and heartwarming

as those plates mom makes

it’s when

i hear in my intonation the fleeting traces of ancestors speaking.