time past, he denies the constant interaction of the past with the present and the
anticipated future. This concentric view of temporality in Anyidoho is necessary because
of the all-inclusive reflection that the work offers on the impulse of dislocation which is
adroitly disseminated in the medley of delicate cadences of traditional lyricism and
rhythm. The need to include the past is made most clear by the poet himself in the
symbolic narrative instantiated in the opening paragraph of one of his recent essays:
The story is told in oral tradition of the Ewes in Ghana that in their migratory journeys to their
present homes, probably the most important single step they took into the future had to be done
walking backward...[paraphrasing Nukunya 1997, he says further] Also, in November of every
year, usually on the first Saturday during the Hogbetsotso festival in Anloga in Ghana, when the
Anlo-Ewe re-enact their migratory journeys, they perform the misego, the special dance
inscribed by symbolic forward-backward movements. (2003: 3-4)^31The particularity of this narrative notwithstanding, the symbolic significance it holds for
the understanding of the impulse of dispersal and the necessary return is what remains
crucial. The dedication may have in a way celebrated dispersal with the recognition of
African diaspora, this is however to be viewed from the standpoint of the “backward”
journey that must be taken for the renewal of the rootedness and progress of
“Earthchildren”. It is in a sense an illustration of a people’s demotic knowledge and
philosophy which is for the most part hinged on the constant visit to the past for the
progress of its worldview. And the poet, not being a product of a strange culture, but that
of his own people, is naturally laden with the task of articulating this worldview. The
autochthonous knowledge from which the poet has to borrow is of the essence as it is
drawn from intimate human experience (Okpewho 1985: 3). It is also part of why among
the Ewe the voice of the poet, “is constantly identified with the voice of his people”
(Anyidoho 1983: 351). There is an extension of this particular knowledge in the response
to the challenge posed by multi-ethnic nationhood and the cause of Africa and the
diaspora in general. Taking history and memory into cognizance, the poems traverse all
periods and moments, dwelling not only on the rarefied alienation of the poet but the
opening up of a liberalized path which offers insight into a general human condition.
31
In the cited work above, Anyidoho reveals that the migration of the Ewe to the present day Ghana was in
protest against the dictatorial and murderous atmosphere that prevailed during the reign of a particular
unpopular King in a kingdom that once flourished somewhere in the present day Togo.