Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. List of Illustrations viii
4. Preface and Acknowledgements ix
5. No Wings xiii
6. Preface to Second Edition xiv
7. Foreword to Second Edition xvi
8. Introduction to Second Edition 1
9. A Note of History 47
10. Should I Ever… 52
11. THE COUNTRYSIDE
12. AKAN
13. The Poetry of Drums 53
14. Across the Prah 60
15. The Tale of Ananse and Twala the Thief 73
16. Ananse’s Punishment 74
17. Ohia and the Thieving Deer 75
18. ‘The Iron Bar’ 79
19. Drum Proverbs 81
20. Afram 86
21. A Fisherman’s Day 98
22. Komenda Hill 103
23. Ahanamanta (Harmattan) 104
24. Mami Takyiwa’s Misfortune 106
25. New Life at Kyerefaso 110
26. No Ten Without Nine 116
27. EWE
28. Ewe Poetry 118
29. Akoli the Rich 126
30. Poems of Eweland 129
31. Down Below the Volta River 136
32. GA-ADANGME
33. August Fish 139
34. A Hawker’s Day 140
35. DAGOMBA
36. Kamyana Ka Ti Balim Tingbͻŋ. (Come Back to the Land) 142
37. Each for a Purpose 144
38. HAUSA
39. The Hausa Trader 145
40. Wakan Sule (A Song for a Shilling) 148
41. The Tragedy of Nana Kwame Dziratuo II 149
42. THE TOWN
43. Tumble-Down Woods 160
44. Tough Guy in Town 161
45. In the Streets of Accra 164
46. Snuff and the Ashes 167
47. Radio Dance Hour 171
48. This is Experience Speaking 171
49. Palm Leaves of Childhood 178
50. Hot Day 179
51. The Literary Society 179
52. It’s Ritual Murder 189
53. The Wrong Packing Case 191
54. Lines on Korle Bu 194
55. Pay Day 199
56. The Walk of Life (Agbezoli) 203
57. Peace 203
58. Heaven is a Fine Place 204
59. Ata 209
60. Complaint 209
61. To My Mother 210
62. Oh! My Brother 211
63. The Homeless Boy 213
64. The Lone Horse 214
65. The Perfect Understander 214
66. The Woods Decay 215
67. On Parting 216
68. To the Night Insects 217
69. The Blind Man from the North 217
70. A Second Birthday 218
71. In God’s Tired Face 218
72. The Executioner’s Dream 219
73. Had I Known 220
74. Re-incarnation 222
75. Ancestral Faces 222
76. ‘O Forest, Dear Forest’ 223
77. My Sea Adventure 225
78. The Passing of The King 228
79. Patriotism 229
80. African Heaven 230
81. The Ghosts 232
82. The Herdsman from Wa 237
83. Pa Grant Due 240
84. The Mosquito and the Young Ghanaian 241
85. Unity in Diversity 242
86. The Journey to Independence 243
87. Ode to the Hon. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah 249
88. The Dawn of the New Era 252
89. The Meaning of Independence 258
90. National Anthem 262
91. The Contributors 263
92. Index 272