Soul Insurance (Part 10 Full Circle)

A cooking session... Part 10 of Soul Insurance (see previously)

X. Full Circle

The smell of kelewele wafted out
   as they gathered just past Atomic Junction
They met outside the Atomic Waakye chop bar - swank,
   this was the original location
Sika's taste buds were getting a workout,
   as were those of Ananse the Spider
For he'd made them wait, and stew a little,
  before he arrived, the claims adjuster

Sika would play the straight woman this time,
   a combination shill and fixer
Her normal role in their plays was as the foil,
   the femme fatale, or the roper
Typically Ananse, with his improvisational skill,
   would work as chief grifter
In reality, they were both versatile in sensibility,
   and could work as any player

Like all women, Sika had an eye for numbers and reverse psychology
An actuary by training, she knew all about risk and game theory
In this instance she agreed that they could proceed with a squeeze play
She'd run the models, humanity were in a tight spot, prime for disarray

Not quite a meeting of minds in the chop bar, this curious triangle
With the claims adjuster on one end,
   Sika and Ananse sought to bedazzle
The proposals came thick and fast,
   again they led with the Magdalene Propositions
When Ananse found a working formula,
   he truly believed there was joy in repetition

The import of their angle was that
   due to the threat of executive sanctions
One could lean on the collective responsibility clause
   and bring up indemnity provisions
That humanity had breached agreements was undisputed,
   the claims adjuster would surely agree
All that remained was to settle
   on the small matter of their transaction fee

The claims adjuster feigned interest
   even as he saw through their short con
He was rather bemused at the games
   these two artists were trying to put on
Did they really believe that they were pulling one over on him,
   what a conceit?
For it was in the bureau's back office
   that he'd designed the original symphony of deceit

Still, their deceptions did belie a core of truth,
   if one took the subtle hint
There was a structural weakness in the contract
   when you focused on the small print
At the going rate for broad form indemnity,
   there was no unqualified obligation
To hold harmless the bearer, humanity,
   from damages with no applicable exclusion

He recalled the negotiation with the Usher's linguist
   in the established church
Who threw the soul insurance certificates at him
   as if it was operations research
It was quite surprising, the assumption that they held any leverage
Quite the spectacle,
   when most hadn't even been through the second wave

The die was cast, the canny would perceive
   that adjustment was a contact sport
If one didn't take proper precautions,
   one would sell oneself short
For all it took was the right superspreader
   to make one lose one's innocence
Take the recent example of that French executive
   at the Biogen conference

Or the case of those two health ministers
   who shook hands, those globetrotters,
With the two doddering princes,
   Albert of Monaco and Charles of Windsor,
Who coughed a few aerosols their way.
   They took back to their countries viral strife
As if to prove definitively
   that irony is the key register of African life

In a sense, it was easier to deal with this odd couple,
   the trickster and the actuary
Than the bureaucracy and huhudious machinations
   of the three tribes of humanity
This kind of nonsense and commotion
   was their brand of frammis
They thought they were rarefied
   using that word instead of thingamajig

The strictures of rigorous enforcement actions
   were their present and future
The restructuring activities now underway
   would remove any lasting traces of humor
Confoundingly, amid the proceedings,
   some tribes were already declaring victory
Well, structural adjustment with a human face
   would be a keen test of their ability

Full Circle, a playlist

A soundtrack for this revival. (spotify)

• Workin' up a Sweat by Full Circle
• Scheming by Slum Village ft Posdunos and Phife
• Full Circle by Hieroglyphics ft Goapele
• Down with the King by Run DMC
• Unconventional Ways by Jazzyfatnastees
• All the kings horses by Grover Washington, Jr.
• It Ain't Necessarily So by Grant Green

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 conclave is part of a series: In a covidious time.

Next: Enforcement Actions

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 10 April 8, 2021