In West Africa, We Say Courage

this land has taught my heart to hope

A hushed village I walked through…everything slept while the rain rolled in.

I have been writing daily poems for national poetry month and it has been such a refreshing delight. Today’s poem is a sonnet spurred from a lesson I have learned while living in West Africa. Something about the thick, warm air of this place, the red dusts—which cloud about your feet as you walk through the cornfields, the markets, the villages—tells the soul to be strong. To hope. To have courage.

I’m not the only one who senses it because everywhere you wander in these lands, whether through the verdant, jungle mountains or in the thick of harmattan sands, you will hear the word, “courage.” The people say it to each other often, reminding one another that hope is strength enough for today. Your child is ill? Courage. Your family has no food for the week? Courage. You are weary with the heat? Courage.

In West Africa, we say courage. Not because courage promises better outcomes. But because courage gives strength for the day.

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Poem 11: April 11
"In West Africa, We Say Courage"

Here in West Africa, we say "courage."
Courage to rise with the sun every day,
Courage to always have enough porridge
To feed your children before they go play. 
Courage to wait for the thick clouds of rain,
To spill o'er the fields, to sweep up the dusts,
To paint seeds of green on the red, dry plain.
Courage to prosper in early harvests. 
Courage against malaria's grave.
Courage for honor to go with your name. 
Courage in the drought, when water you crave. 
Courage that your child will not bring you shame. 
Courage, courage, courage, that is what we say.
Courage is our strength—strength enough today.

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If you would like to read my other poems from this month, I have been posting them daily on my notes page and will link them below. Feel free to browse any/all of them. There’s no specific order they need to be read in.

• Poems 1-2: "Pieces of the Full Moon" (Sonnet) & "Lady Shoes” (Free Verse)

• Poem 3: “The Fate of Edward Gee (Ballad)

• Poem 4: “Stolen Rhymes” (Quatrain)

• Poem 5: “Even Hate is Just a Flower” (Villanelle)

• Poems 6-7: “Hard Earth, Soft Feet” (Free Verse) & “Let Me Be a Fool” (Free Verse)

• Poem 8: “Light Awakening” (Sonnet)

• Poem 9: “Remember, I Am” (Ghazal)

• Poem 10: “My Heart Grazed the Earth” (Free Verse)

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Writing the poem, “In West Africa, We Say Courage” made me think of Josh Garrel’s song, “May You Find a Light.”

Lost and weary traveler
Searchin' for the way to go
Stranger, heavy-hearted
Longin' for someone to know

May you find a light
May you find a light
May you find a light to guide you home

We are all pilgrims and poets, lost and weary travelers, trying to find strength enough for today.

May you find a light to guide you home.

Courage, dear heart.