{"id":6204,"date":"2019-01-16T09:37:39","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T09:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/?p=6204"},"modified":"2020-07-11T15:13:24","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T15:13:24","slug":"the-garden-of-panotii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/","title":{"rendered":"The Garden of Panotii"},"content":{"rendered":"

The madala says I should look into the memaginor, that mystical mirror <\/span><\/p>\n

that invites listening along the large ellipse; the mirror into which we reflect <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and chip away the sediment of sleep to reveal memory, deep memory <\/span><\/p>\n

that makes truth plain. In the memaginor the listening spirit sees a window <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

to everything \u2013 the wanted garden that stretches without end, no walls, <\/span><\/p>\n

where possibility hangs invitingly, large morula ripe to feed our walking; <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

where vision flows in diamond streams; where we can peek into impala lilies <\/span><\/p>\n

to see reflections of our days to come, memories of greatness already done, <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

dreams that sprout like baobab from the earth at the touching of the sun \u2013 <\/span><\/p>\n

memagination: memories and imagination rolled into one<\/span>. From darkness <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

we look through the mirror into a window to see our land flooded with<\/span><\/p>\n

light. In this mirror-window our eyes are open, alien structures fractured <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

to invite wisdom, deeper listening \u2013 our ears metaphors for the pursuit <\/span><\/p>\n

of truth, for they are always hungry, always foraging in wonder, never shut. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I accept the madala\u2019s challenge and look deep into the memaginor until <\/span><\/p>\n

listening comes. I see families with onyx skins walk hand in hand, steps<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

leaving behind golden prints; I see men from Mogadishu to Libreville, from<\/span><\/p>\n

Mthatha to Tunis put down their flags, their fears and gather to pour libations. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our mothers and fathers rise in power from the ocean floors of the Atlantic, <\/span><\/p>\n

the Indian, the trails of blood that criss-cross the Sahara sprout fountains <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and rolling fields of mangoes, pineapple, jackfruit and pawpaw. I hear <\/span><\/p>\n

the earth singing again, songs of our sisters, drumbeats of our brothers. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I look deeper into the mirror, my ears awake to ripples, the source of life <\/span><\/p>\n

that knows the movement of tectonic shoulder blades and the rearrangement <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

of genes; I come to know what the mountains know, the map to the wanted, <\/span><\/p>\n

the Garden of Panotii, whose centre-piece is the Great Ear. This is our time, <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the time to re-enter the Garden of Panotti, the garden of plenty, the garden <\/span><\/p>\n

of listening, the garden of knowing what the mountains know, what we <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

have always known. <\/span>We all should look into the memaginor, to see and hear <\/span><\/p>\n

what I have seen and heard, for there we will rediscover ourselves, our home.<\/span><\/p>\n

ATHOL WILLIAMS<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The madala says I should look into the memaginor, that mystical mirror that invites listening along the large ellipse; the mirror into which we reflect   and chip away the <\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Garden of Panotii - Ake Arts & Book Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Garden of Panotii - Ake Arts & Book Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The madala says I should look into the memaginor, that mystical mirror that invites listening along the large ellipse; the mirror into which we reflect   and chip away the Continue Reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ake Arts & Book Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-16T09:37:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-11T15:13:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/poetry.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"webmaster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@akefestival\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@akefestival\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"webmaster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"webmaster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/6f5dfbebbe1b6f20207b3ac1c4588080\"},\"headline\":\"The Garden of Panotii\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-16T09:37:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-11T15:13:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/\"},\"wordCount\":401,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/poetry.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Poetry (Ake Review 2019)\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/the-garden-of-panotii\/\",\"name\":\"The Garden of Panotii - 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