Lesson 1, Topic 1
In Progress

MAKOLA POEM

Makola Theresa Ennin

Head bent, rags all around the upside down pan

Picking her nose, shuffling her feet, oblivious to

the bustle

and the calls of the drivers’ mates.

5 This morning she quarreled with the husband

Why wouldn’t he understand that her is very

tedious and involving?

Why must it all be on his terms, at his convenience?

“Move out of the way, move out, I say” shouts the

10 cart pusher

None cares about his agitation

The sweat runs down his face, tiny rivulets of disappointment and fear

They snake down and glide effortlessly into his

15 dirty t-shirt

His tongue out and the beads of

on his lip.

That young girl with the thin arms balances a bowl

of sachet water on her head

20 The runny-nose baby at her back is supported with

a faded ATL cloth.

He holds in his hands a battered teddy with an eye missing.

The baby whimpers, she tries to soothe him by

patting his leg.

25 He refuses to be soothed and gives out a loud yell.

“Put him to the breast,” one woman counsels.

“I can’t,” she says, “I have no breast milk.”

Meanings of Words

Picking her nose: removing substances or material from her nose

Shuffling her feet: dragging her feet noisily.

oblivious to: unaware of: unconscious of: not seeing

The bustle: the activity, the commotion, the movements

Tedious and involving: hard work and busy, having a lot to do.

His terms: what he wants, how he wants it;

Glide effortlessly: slide or move naturally without

difficulty:

Convenience: suitability, appropriateness

Agitation: anxiety, worry, nervous

Soothe: cool, quiet, to calm down.

Tiny rivulets: small amounts of liquid flowing;

Battered teddy: a toy (of teddy bear) that is worn out.

Counsels: advises, instructs, gives guidance

Issues the poem raises

1. Difficulties people go through to earn a living, with everybody minding their own business.

2. Lack of formal jobs in the midst of growing unemployment calls for creativity and skill as people create jobs for themselves.

3. The marketplace is full of diverse hassle and bustle (activities) all the time

4. A child-mother with her baby on her back fends for herself in the midst of frustration circumstances.

Characters

The poem narrates brief stories of people in the Makola market as they go about their individual activities to make a living:

A kayaye or street porter who helps carry people’s luggage for a fee.

Drivers’ mates calling out for potential passengers.

A cart-pusher who is agitated as he yells at people to give way for him to pass with his cart.

A slim young girl (who is also a mother) selling sachet water.

A baby boy with runny-nose at the back of the sachet water seller.

A concerned woman who advises the young mother to breast feed her baby.

Theme

Doing menial jobs in the marketplace to earn incomes. The personal and domestic struggles people go through affect their work.

Form

This poem has longer, and uneven line breaks. The poem tells stories of persons in the marketplace and their personal problems. It even has dialogue (as in prose).

Mood/Tone

The scenario the poet paints here a fast and busy environment. The mood depicts frustration, exhaustion,

and pain as the characters struggle in their various occupations to make a living.

Literary Devices

Personification: the sweat runs down his face.:. (line 12); tongue peeps out and licks (line 16). Sweat and tongue are given human qualities to do things.

Metaphor: The sweat (that) runs down his face (line 12) metaphorically becomes tiny rivulets – a small stream of fluid flowing down his face.

Alliteration: He holds in his hands… (line 22); Onomatopoeia:…. shuffling her feet (line 2).

Commentary/Analysis The description fits a woman in the marketplace, Picking her nose, shuffling her feet. (line 2) who had quarrelled with her husband in the morning (line 5). “Makola” (the title of the poem) is a big market situated in Ghana’s capital, Accra-probably the most popular and largest market. But it can also pass for any other large market.

A graphic imagery is presented to us: the woman’s head is bent, so she is able to notice the condition of the environment-… rags all around (line 1). The woman is … oblivious to (unaware of) the bustle and the calls of the drivers’ mates (lines 2 to 4). She is obviously sitting on the pan that is turned upside down (line 1).

Her mind is so occupied with something more important than what is going on around her. She doesn’t care about the noise made by drivers’ mates calling out for passengers to board their vehicles.

Why is she so preoccupied with her thoughts? The reason is in line 5: This morning she quarrelled with the husband. Lines 6 to 8 give a hint about further reasons for the quarrel.

Her husband needed to have an intimate relationship with her, but she complained of tiredness. Why wouldn’t he the husband) understand that her work is very tedionis and involving (lines 6 and 7). She preferred to sleep and take a rest and not engage in anything tiring.

Now she is annoyed because of her husband’s lack of consideration for her, always wanting things at his convenience (lines 8). … on his terms,

A cart pusher comes along, tired and yelling at people. None cares about his agitation (line 11) reveals people’s uncaring attitude towards others in the busy work life in the market place.

The sweat (that) runs down his face (line 12) becomes tiny rivulets – a small stream of fluid flowing down the face of the cart pusher. The rivulets are referred to as disappointment and fear. Why? Because, although the cart pusher works so hard pushing his cart up and down, what he earns is not much, hence the disappointment. The fear is caused by panic because of the uncertainty of the future. The sweat gets into his dirty T-shirt as well as on to his lips, which he licks with his tongue-clearly painting the image of a tired cart-pusher. Moreover, the sweat “snake down and glide effortlessly into his dirty t-shirt (lines 14 and 15). The image is sweat meandering its way on his body the way a snake would wriggle away.

Three characters are introduced in lines 18 to 28: (1) a young girl with thin arms; (2) a baby boy with runny-nose (the son of the thin-arm girl); (3) a woman who counsels the thin-arm girl.

Every one of them goes about his or her own business, but sometimes they interfere with each other. The last two lines of the poem is a dialogue between the woman and the

young girl. The woman shows concern, advising the girl to breastfeed the baby, but her advice cannot be carried out. The girl’s statement, “I I have no breast milk” indicates that the girl is only a child herself, a case of a teenage mother whose breast is unable to produce milk for her baby.

Discussion/Essay Questions

These questions are for classroom work with your teachers or in a group discussion or for private study. The questions are aimed at helping students answer contextual and literary questions.

1. Why is the street porter so unhappy?

2. What time did the woman quarrel with her husband?

3. Name three of the characters mentioned in the poem

4. Whose tongue peeps out and licks the beads of sweat 7 on his lip (lines 16 and 17)?

5. Who refuses to be soothed and gives out a loud yell (line 26)?

6. How does the girl try to soothe her baby?

7. What literary device is … snake down and glide effortlessly.

8. What image does the faded ATL cloth portray?

9. Identify two literary devices used in the poem.

10. Who is holding in his hands a battered teddy with an eye/ missing (lines 22 and 23)?

11. Who said, “Put him (the baby) to the breast” and why?

12. Why is the young girl unable to breast feed the baby?