Congo. A bongo. A drum and a joke. A man on his knees with a knife to his throat. Bombing The Congo. A Belgian pastime. Lay out the bodies and dust them with lime. Rubber, Our Mother. A tree leaking gold. Lapping that sap? King Leopold! A song without notes. Dust on the tongue. No [...]
I was set at the very onset of the olden time when history was just born engraving me on a piece of stone, diagonal to the eyes but still straight to touch the universal heart inspiring artists to handshake with me appreciating me a gorgeous part of art God-fearing to touch the dust of my [...]
Something stirred inside Duma. Something dark, restless and wild. It called to her from the depths of the jungle, luring her from a life where nothing ever changed. Her tribe had spent centuries dancing to the same old drum, lulled by the same old songs. But Duma longed for more. “There is nothing more,” the [...]
Abdulaziz sat on the floor and listened to the screams and the music through his window. Outside, everything was wild. He wasn’t old enough to remember the last election, but he couldn’t imagine it being as loud as this one. He was scared. All that noise, those colors… It was too much. When his bedroom [...]
You chant, plead and pour libations on tethered stones, call forth lost gems trampled beneath desecrated soil while palm trees wave to dried up sappy sap. Amulets are but charmed wishes, imaginary baits of burnt out fretful fishermen. Treasures are only worth a dime to the hungry. Listen to yourself converse as the sky sleeps, [...]
I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills. The equator runs across these highlands . . . and the farm lay at an altitude of over six thousand feet. --Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa. It is difficult for me to relate to Isak Dinesen’s experience. New York Jewish women do [...]
You have a head, I have a head; Hence, we are alike. But you say you are man, and I am not. Therefore, I am weak. ~ I have a brain, Just like you do. Therefore, I can think And do the things you can. But you insist that I am frail. ~ You have a [...]
Fatigue only pushed them onward. Concepts of time diffused in their wake. Hunger atrophied-- a hollow thought redressed by expectation. On and on and on they soared through the comforting cold of liquid space. Above them the great void; below the dense, rocky base of the world; ahead only blackness. Gliding up, then down, the [...]
We upload your consciousness, it runs in a simulated 1960s Lagos, the quaint elder city; but it's totally cool! OK, it runs slowly, and it's grainy (a few details are lacking), but the Uploaded never notice; they lack detail too. Your body is destroyed in the process, but it's immortality; don't worry, we keep you backed up, we [...]
I lick the blob of blood on the tip of my thumb and resist crying as we paddle our old canoe toward the effulgent rays emanating from the lake. “We should probably uproot that tomorrow morning.” Papa tips his head toward the slim plank jutting out from the water near the rickety dock behind. My [...]
