ABOUT GU

The very old muse has decided I should write

A poem about Gu, who is from Benin and used to be

The god of ironworking. That I know little about him

Deters her not at all. “You have seen his statue

Or a picture of it at least. He carries a large sword,

With holes punched in it. It must whistle

When he challenges the wind. His hat is iron

And worn jauntily. His smile is broad but his eyes

Never quite focus on the world in front of him.”

My folk did not work with iron but with tin

And, when they could get it, silver. (A thrice-great-aunt

Ran off at 19 with a burly redsmith, a copperworker

We speak her name still as something half-remembered)

How should I know of what iron dreams?