Dragged from her home. 
Shipped like a commodity, 
put up for sale, 
auctioned off as property. 
Passed from hand to hand. 
Always a temporary place.

Shadows on the glittering eyes. 
Sun warming palm-oiled surfaces. 
Tender care of years, 
Lustre of love.

Now she stands on the edge of my table. 
Solemn statue, 
frozen in the act of remembering. 
Eyes looking through walls 
at scenes of lost innocence. 
Joyous songs of community 
lacing the paths. 
Flower-laughs of children, 
planted along the way. 
A canopy of dancers weaving histories. 
Stories of Anansi, 
and the kings of old.

There, in the still evening, 
forest voices flow. 
The barking cry of Mokele Mbembe, 
mingling with the crackling fires. 
A chorus of creatures in the softer darkness. 
From far away, 
The reassuring hornbill. 
Singing her home.

The object referred to is a fertility statue of the Fang people of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Cameroon.

M Chambers is a professional archaeologist and writer from Guisborough, Yorkshire.