The wine tapper

The wine tapper climbs up the palm tree
Like one going up a steep cliff
Like one climbing up a set of stairs,
Vertically in the air.
He holds a round hoop, reminiscent of
A hula hoop, around his waist, also
Looped around the palm tree, and
Firmly secured.
Like a rough leather tube,
Carefully procured, strong
Product of the palm frond.

Grabbing the rough hoop with both hands,
Udo nkwu, the name in Igbo,
The wine tapper moves up the palm tree.
Moving the hoop up, then
One foot up, then the other.
Then the hoop moves up again
One notch,
Then the foot, then the other.
Over and over again, like a
vertical hula hoop game, he goes
Up the palm tree.

He leans back for balance
Upon arrival to the top,
Palm fronds hanging overhead
In a welcome bow.
Like a wood pecker poised to
Start his tapping,
The wine tapper taps for palm wine,
In gourds,carefully secured.

Done, he begins stepping
Backwards and downwards
over and over again,
Hula hooping all the way down.
Vertically.
On the ground, hoop undone,
he hangs the hoop from his shoulder,
For the next hula hoop game,
Up the next designated palm tree,
And down.
Risky game, all the same.

Chinwe Enemchukwu
October 4TH 2011
Picture courtesy of Wouter ten Broek