Soul Insurance (Part 6 Excessive Liabilities)

Structural adjustments (with a human face)... Part 6 of Soul Insurance (see previously)

VI. Excessive Liabilities

The year went on fitfully it seemed,
   the die was cast
Symbolized by the introduction
   of the ubiquitous face mask
The claims adjuster had dispatched his tiny vectors
   by way of the Mink Quadrant
Plaintive voices were heard throughout the land,
   the tribes were discordant

Still, they mostly quibbled about the shape
   and size of the relief efforts
Those that were ostensibly best prepared
   seemed fully frozen in action
Nyame would be tickled pink at the development,
   and find it worthy of applause
That the whole world, as punishment,
   would now be subject to a global pause

Moreover, humanity was unable, or unwilling,
   to abide by the intercession
Even given clear opportunities
   to show that they had learned their lessons
After the debacle at Chwedru in the east,
   the claims adjuster had hit his stride
He had traveled far and wide,
   and made the same approach to the other tribes

The Ushers had roundly rejected his approach
   with a bravado he found confounding
Supremely confident about the soul insurance they'd purchased,
   they were trusting
The claims adjuster was puzzled at the certificates of coverage
   they promptly proffered
They really appeared to believe
   Mother Nature checked credentials and discriminated

He thought back to the wretched in Agona
   in the torrid zone who were beleaguered
These last were well aware that they had no protection,
   at least none that mattered
Third Tribe certainties were suspect
   and they lacked all necessary infrastructure
Still, to be barely keeping above water
   was no excuse in the eyes of the adjuster

Their time was coming, in short order, they'd be the new epicenter
Lockdown was looming, they'd had fair warning from their tormentor
Still, the folk in Agona were young, and thought the future was theirs
Unlike the Ushers, they didn't behave as if they were royal heirs

Enthusiastic, for sure, but they lacked capacity, and were easily swayed
Swiftly bamboozled, just throw a fig leaf or a few crumbs their way
But they kept clean and, in the majority, had reasonable motives
And, these days, they'd seen how the rest of the world lived

No, they were up-and-coming and could go on to great things,
   if they survived, that is
For no one was promised tomorrow,
   when the claims adjuster dispensed justice
Because Nyame did want everyone to be taught a lesson
A lasting reminder for all time that no one is coming

Asase Yaa thought that she should intervene, for it was quite clear
To her eyes at least, that the other gods were being plainly unfair
She made her initial appeal by way of her public agent, Tedros of Who
"Test, test, test", the message was clear but sadly didn't cut through

If they were wont to pursue structural adjustment
The least they could do was let it be done with a human face
And display a modicum of heavenly discernment
It was going overboard to let humanity lie in this bed of disgrace

The punishment surely didn't fit the crime, and left all and sundry
Stuck in a global torrid zone, home of the internally displaced
Asase Yaa decided to underwrite an excessive liability policy
Beyond the meager soul insurance some had seemingly purchased

Her only conditions for mankind were a little humility
That they, at least, forgo their keen sense of invincibility
Adhere to the lessons of the Mosquito Principle and social living
Love for one another, and tolerance, instead of wishful thinking

She even got that urban griot to put it to a soulful song
Thus sang Burning Spear, "it takes behavior to get along"
She left it out there: think first of the least of us
Resolve conflicts with conversation and seek consensus

But the Ushers were quite incorrigible and prone to pick fights
They would not embrace restraint contra their insatiable appetites
Their new Okyeames trumped consensus
   and preferred transactional conflicts
Their Prime Magician Johnson took on the role of a reverse ferret

The chief of the Tabom would be given The Full Bolton
   but yet he persisted
Even the Macromeister would get a frank taste
   of the disease he gaslighted
The social pilgrim's progression through the lands was quite insidious
Exposing at once the cracks in the cement of society and the huhudious

The Akan proverb out of Agona, widely known in the torrid zone
Made the stark claim that "Humanity knows no boundary"
This generation at hand was instead keen to stand alone
To prove that it was rather folly that spread widely

Wisdom went in one ear, and out the other, their reputations were sullied
Still, badged with Asase Yaa's protective notions, they were unworried
They believed they could call on the excessive liability policy
It would provide, in extremis, a sort of soul sanctuary

The gods let the game play out, but it was quite disconcerting
To see the same mistakes repeated time and again, all too merrily
Advice from telemedicine consultations swiftly discarded,
   it was hard to understand
They really needed to be taught by example,
   that everything was written in sand

Excessive Liabilities, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note, it limits the claims of the umbrella policy. (spotify version)

• Protection by Massive Attack
  Tracy Thorn's vocals laced the title track of the album that won the 90s for me
• Too Much by Loose Ends
• Excess by Tricky
  The album is named blowback, the fruits of hubris
• Never Too Much by Luther Vandross
• Too Much Pain by Eugene Evans

Soul Insurance (Index)

A covidious folktale

1. Ananse and the Chief's Scribe
2. Enter the Claims Adjuster
3. An Audience with the Linguist
4. Pity the Mink
5. Short Sale
6. Excessive Liabilities
7. Premiums Due
8. Soul Insurance, a playlist
9. Indemnity Provisions
10. Full Circle
11. Enforcement Actions
12. The Die is Cast

This folktale is part of a series: In a covidious time.

Next: Premiums Due

File under: humour, satire, culture, observation, folktale, Ghana, Africa, storytelling, whimsy, myth, coronavirus, pandemic, Social Living, Things Fall Apart, Observers are worried, Buyer's Remorse, covidious, poetry, toli

Writing log: Part 6 March 26, 2021