A Great Big Pot
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| (Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom Book Cover by Mark Magnaye) |
. . .
Anansi was the father's nameFor he was a man of great fame
He held all the wisdom in the land
People always asked him for a helping hand
One day country men offended him
And Anansi set out to punish them
Knowing he must teach these men a lesson
He promptly took away all the world's wisdom
Placing it all in one great big pot
Off he went to finish his cunning plot
Searching for a place no human could reach
He looked high and low for a spot no could breech
Alas, dear Anansi had an intelligent son
Who knew his father was always the mischievous one
Mind set on finding out what his father was up to
He followed his father, always keeping him in view
Anansi, with the pot of wisdom tied to his neck
Found a tree to climb, thus began his trek
Up the tree to where no human could go
Yet he found his pot always swinging to and fro
Frustrated with the pot getting in the way
Anansi kept climbing up, with the goal still at bay
Down in the forest, Anansi's son watched on
Looking at his father as he became his own pawn
"Father!", Kweku Tsin screamed aloud
"Tie the pot to your back and the pot will not crowd!"
"Once tied correctly, your ascent will be easy!"
Said Kweku Tsin, "A feat that will make you not quite as wheezy."
Astonished by his son's great thought
Anansi realized at once he had been caught
"I thought I had all the world's wisdom in my hand,"
"Alas it is my son who has slipped through the sand."
"Now I know your wisdom is much greater."
"I spent 20 attempts, not knowing how to do better."
In his fuming anger, Anansi threw the pot down
Pouting and huffing with a great frown
Smashed against a large rock
The pot itself turned into chalk
Thus all the wisdom poured out
Spreading throughout the world's routes
. . .
Author's Note:
This short story out of all the folklores concerning Anansi, the trickster god of Ghana, is the one that I found most interesting. While others might think the others that contained far more clever plots might be best, I thought the simplicity and loss in this one was compelling. Most trickster gods get away with their plots and do not have anyone who can one up them. Anansi, in this story and others, is bested by his son, Kweku Tsin. To me, this brings humanity and groundedness into what can commonly be lofty folklore tales. As for my retelling, I have decided to do every other retelling I write in poem format because it is the one I have most difficulty with. By challenging myself every two weeks I hope to gain a better sense of what creates a good poem and learn how to be more concise with all my writings. I hope you enjoyed this read and if you've read one of my poems before you can see some improvements!
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This retelling is based off of stories from West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).
Belle,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the simplicity of this plot is what made is so memorable. It is humorous that the trickster god was thwarted by his own son. It was ironic that by the son trying to help his father actually carry out his plot that he instead stopped it. I guess Anansi had greatly underestimated the knowledge of his own son. I like that you wrote the story in the form of a poem. I've always wanted to do that in my own story telling but have never actually attempted it. Maybe this week I will give it a go. Great work!
Bell,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the sotry yoy wrote, I thought it was very well written. Im so impressed with the fact that you wrote it in poem form, that is so creative and cool and made it so much more enjoyable to read. Honestly I have a hard enough time just trying write my stories normally, but maybe ill try a poem or something different this next week. Great work, I look forward to reading more of your writing throughout the semester!
Man, poetry itself seems hard enough to me, so I’m insanely impressed that you managed to work out a story involving both rhymes and a plot you needed to follow. I could totally see this version as a traditional tale that gets passed from storyteller to storyteller and told for entertainment, like Beowulf or something.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as someone who’s never read the original story before, I didn’t catch the twist that Anansi’s son introduced till it was too late and Anansi was already hurling the pot down. Like you mentioned in your author’s note, that’s a take on a trickster tale that I’ve never seen before, and it added another layer of depth here. Nice job with this one!
Belle, you're an incredible writer. A lot of people would rather write in a style that they are most comfortable with. The fact that you actively write in a style that is not your preference is a very admirable. Also how you were able to write your story in a poem format is very clever. It felt like a sort of bedtime story. You did an amazing job!
ReplyDeleteIt’s great that you challenge yourself every two weeks with poetry. I think it’s a nice idea and I may try that myself sometime. Based on your story I couldn’t tell that you have any difficulty with poetry. I loved how you made each line rhyme and the whole story flowed very well! The method you chose to tell this story in definitely made for an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteVery well done! I love your story through the poem. You did amazing job in keeping all the important details in a concise form, and you also showed the distinct personality of each character. I really admire you motivation in trying out the more difficult writing format, and I think you nailed it. I am looking forward to more stories in different format from you.
ReplyDelete