i. Because of the foreign language foaming at his mouth, Uncle plays Kenyan and Ghanaian marimba music in His car. This, he says, is what you do when your own country Does not want you. You fall in love with girls on the other side Of the border, girls raised by single mothers with tongues […]

When you say Akata Remember You are speaking of a brother, A sister, a child, Mother, father Kidnapped from home Raised on far-off shores Chained and beaten Until hope became a faint glimmer Until home became a weak whisper Until humanity tasted bitter Remember You are not speaking of yourself Because you had Africa’s forests, […]

When Eedo Laki saw me for the first time, her mouth robbed me of my name and replaced it with my father’s. The Arabic sat sweet between her tongue and teeth. She addressed me with glee and haunt fencing in the nucleus of her eyes. Wails filled the humid air. Nameless faces that looked like […]

each morning i find me, sifting through all the syllables of love brimming with words i can say and cannot spell half–illiterate in my mother tongue             half–silent in          my      purchased         f——– -luency at the age of five i watch […]