The house
In Section Six, ‘The Mother Stone Has a Hollow Stomach’, Okot, through Lawino, displays his indigenous knowledge of Acoli domestic aesthetics, when he describes in detail Lawino’s mother’s house built by her father. Lawino takes Ocol on a guided tour of the house and its beautifully arranged contents:
Come brother,
Come into my mother’s house!
Pause a bit by the door,
Let me show you
My mother’s house.
Look,
Straight before you
Is the central pole
At the foot of the pole
Is my father’s revered stool.
Further on
The rows of pots
Placed one on top of the other
Are the stores
And cupboards.
Millet flour, dried carcasses
Of various animals
Beans, peas,
Fish, dried cucumber…
…
Here on your left
Are the grinding stones:
The big one
Ashen and dusty
And her daughter
Sitting in her belly
Are the destroyers of millet
Mixed with cassava
And sorghum.
…
Do you know
Why the knees
Of millet –eaters
Are tough?
Tougher than the knees
Of the people who drink bananas!
Where do you think
The stone powder
From the grinding stones goes? (SoL, 62-3)