In my backyard stands a colossal baobab tree, ten feet farther from the house, tall and majestic as the Nkanyamba mountains overlooking the surreal view of our village, its peaceful demeanour pervades all around it, more so when its copper arms beckon at me with a poised buoyancy from a distance, sending enthralling tingles all [...]
I've never met my grandmother, except from my mother's lips, in which case, I know her very well. Her spirit lives on my mother says. She's an unextinguishable flame that could not be doused even by the passage of time, soaring the vast, capricious Alkebulan sky like all great Goddesses who reigned over these sacred [...]
“Must've been intense", remarked the light-skinned woman staring intensely into my face. I enjoyed watching the frightful apprehensiveness budding in her eyes. "A tiger you say..." "Oh my!" "Must've been quite something…" "Does it hurt?" "Can I tou…" she reached out her hand but was interrupted by the train halting. It's my stop, so I [...]
I stood on the third floor lifelessly, weighing down my body like an ant who didn't want to be swallowed by bricks. My toes were the only part of my body that dared to kiss the floor. Still, in my heart, I wished I could grow wings to ensure my safety. My toes didn't stand [...]
The moonlight makes my skin burn. My mother knows this and so does the babalawo scooping blood from a rusty metal bucket and gently pouring it over my head. The blood sizzles as it hits my skin. It is no match for the fire the moonlight dumps on my skin. I am red. I am [...]
'The Yoruba believe in the doctrine of metempsychosis or transmigration of souls; hence they affirm that after some time, deceased parents are born again into the family of the surviving children. It is from this notion that some children are named "Babatunde," i.e., the father comes again…' —The History of the Yorubas by Johnson, Samuel [...]
Ikem held his breath alongside his brothers in arms. The men he had met, hated, fought against and now stood together to stop tyranny. He felt a certain kinship that couldn’t be explained or better yet, felt by none other than those who did what they did. The sound of the enemy engines and loud [...]
The first time I saw her was on a cold morning. The housemistress knocked on the room door and we all rose from our beds. When I stepped forward to open the door, she stood at her imposing height, looking at me with a keen observation, causing me to feel so seen I drew my [...]
The abduction of the chief sent cries of pain and panic rippling through the village. Chief Konkwe was the head of Lukaro not just in status, but in power, too. He was a leader who was not scared of getting his hands dirty and he led his village with an iron fist. It was no [...]
Stuck in a moment, a moment that brought with it peace; an acceptance of fate. In this moment the confusion was over, he accepted a fate that was never his. The people that poured reviling vomit on him were gone and the echoes of their puke dried off. He had a series of wishes, wishes [...]
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