We do not give birth to the girl child like we do the boys, This is the reason the world doesn't belong to them. Daughter, this is how you know the world does not belong to you; You sit, walk and stand among boys With a posture manual clipped under your dress. [...]
Botoso was singing some innocent rhyme about the horrors of the great change at the top of his lungs. It was a new phase, and Lara was fervently hoping that it would pass as quickly as the rest had. It seemed only last week that the little five-year-old had contented himself with running around inside [...]
I try counting the dirges that have passed through me The way water passes the borders of rocks And I lost my fingers to a certain tremor. This is not me telling you what I have passed through, But that I am what you pass through when you remember That there is a space [...]
Welcome to a darkened home Where snakes dominate the trees, And happy birds fly with a heart fearful of returning home, Where children are dogs at night. Welcome to a darkened home, Where sword and pistol daily speak in unison Nurturing the land with red wine, A place the sun refuses breeze to put [...]
Most people knew you as a great writer, But you were also a great negotiator. Never went back on your words, Strong-headed, but kind-hearted. “Egwu a m na-agu, o naghi e mee exist o” Was your theme song whenever we talked It always cracked me up. That song will be missed. You would [...]
JonCarver of Barzoon, you misunderstood. The True Love whom you met in your dreams was the goddess of this planet: pluripotent relict of a vanished race, marooned here eons before you ever were (do not doubt her love; she was made for love). Your crash-landing awakened her to purpose. The honeyed tongue she thrust between [...]
I don’t know why But disaster makes me laugh, And I smile at the tears of others sometimes. I wonder if that makes me a villain, Or just another crazy spirit waiting to terrorise the universe. I swear I don’t mean any harm And I wouldn’t do anything to hurt a soul, But I [...]
On mild, cloudy nights on the island of Gran Canaria, you can hear the call. Some say when you put a shell to your ear at high tide, or when a ship docks at port. The figure of a woman hovers above the shore, and like lighthouses in the distance, two green irises scintillate from [...]
I stare at the twisted remains of Lagos through the visor of my exosuit as I stalk down the hill. Buildings crumble and slide into the sea. Coils of fiery smoke curl up to the sky. So much work, so much craftsmanship. Gone in weeks. I'm panting as I continue down the hill — with [...]
That speck of soft and moist matter between your fingers -- without a name, origin uncertain -- which you briskly roll and rub, like flour, could be rheum, mucus, or your own skin tissue stuck in your fingernails when you clawed at yourself in your sleep... That cold pool drenching your bed... Likewise, I really [...]
