New Poem Alert: It's Sankofa Season

This Adinkra symbol from the Akan people of Ghana conveys the message to “go back and get it”—a reminder to learn from the past to inform the future.

IT’S SANKOFA SEASON

The times we’re in

Have us in a spin

Chaos and disruption reign

Most of the news

Gives us the blues

We’re just tryin’ to stay sane

This upheaval

Feels so evil

Who knows which way we can turn?

Flames are lickin’

Wind is kickin’

What lessons are we to learn?

It’s Sankofa season

Time to go back and get

The history, the lessons

So we don’t ever forget

Ancestors’ wisdom

Lives in our DNA

Let the past show us

What we must do today

Salutation

Pour libation

Offer prayers and praises

That provide protection

and clear direction

And guide us through these mazes

Sankofa, Sankofa

How sweet the sound

That guides us to

Strong, steady ground

That when we’re lost it’s GPS’n

So we can make moves

Without all that guessin

Sankofa, Sankofa

Go back and get it

It will set you straight

If only you let it

It will lift you and gift you

All you require

To navigate and survive

This crazy quagmire

Look back at the movements

That helped us progress

Apply lessons they learned

To this modern-day mess

Follow the footsteps

The paths that were laid

These are the times

For which we were made

Call on the icons

Whose lives paved the way

for us to prevail

In these struggles today

It’s Sankofa Season

So, go back and get it

It’ll get you through

The tough times,

The rough times,

The ain’t got enough times

If only

If only

If only

You let it.

Copyright 2025 TaRessa Stovall