MANY VOICES by Oma
Ancestors Seat
Grandmama,
big sister told us of how you came to her in a dream
you sat on a chair at the side of mummys room
while she sat down, beside you.
I don't remember what you said to her,
but i remember that i wished deeply that it was me
me, who you came to.
there is something in the water that’s also in me
kin
spirit home
gather around please
look at its reflection
call it a burial ground
call it shallow
call it deep
whatever you like
but all i know
is what i’m willing to admit
that there is something clear
and unseen, powerful and unknown,
in this water that’s also in me.
Does my father know the chair he sits on belongs to god.
My mother was a king
I have said this before
She married my father
I have not said this before
I should have married my mother
I have also said this before
Every morning father would sit
In his balcony and read a whole newspaper
Mother would let us know
How much she wanted to be loved
Father would say hello
To every stranger who walked past our gate
Mother would go to church
Sometimes i would go to her
At home people who came to visit would call my father king.
What Other Options Are There?
At night
After all is tried and done
Left alone with myself to myself
One must let their imagination run wild and promise
Yes, promise to put an end to the illusions by morning.
AKPU OKALATE
Akpu!
Akpu mmiri
Akpu nchie
Akpu ndum
Mother - Father
My defender
Giver of my life
Keeper of borders
Source of remembrance
So tall
So great
Incomprehensible
Destroyer of my enemies
I greet you.
In Other Worlds
In this dream i woke up
with a firm hand around me.
In this dream i ate
with a great friend.
In this dream i was naked
and became clothed.
In this dream i was truly loved
and cared for.
In this dream
no unwelcome boundaries were broken or crossed.
HINTS - through the lens of an Ogbanje
What is manipulation to human
is just a way of being to an Ogbanje
a means to existing.
An ogbanje wants what it wants
human says by any means necessary
ogbanje sees any necessary means to exist.
A mother grief,
collateral damage.
A death occurred,
a mission accomplished.
A lovers aching heart,
a side project.
A feeling experienced,
a sensation fulfilled.
Not selfish
just focused on an assignment
a journey
where emotions reside in a chosen life lived.
One can learn from the Ogbanje
seeing what is considered mundane
as maybe it's only reason for choosing to live.
FLOWER VASE
I still have love
packed up in my chest for you
but not at the expense
of my self worth
or yours.
Anyhow, my heart for you
will always be as a flower vase
where everything you pour in with love,
will bloom.
My First Plant
She came to me
as an unexpected gift
i name her
to acknowledge her as mine
a reflection of me
an image of mother
and so far friend
i have learned from her
that new leaves must fall
all death is not an end
this transition is a process
to bear wider and greener leaves
and most important of all
that plants speak too
to those who can listen.
10 Years From Now
I have lived a full life
Regained so much family
Fallen in love with friends
Claimed my children
Engaged my wife
Written and shared
Enough stories to last a lifetime
Built up and burned down numerous things with kin spirit
Liberated so many and as a result liberated myself.
What a great great
Spirit they are!
The people shall say
What a great spirit you are!
PINCH & BLOW
inspired by Maya Angelou
The market women did it
so it belonged to them.
Our african mothers did it
so it belonged to them.
The market women
were our mothers
and our mothers
were the market women
together, they would pinch and blow
the misbehaving children;
pinch them quick then blow
mouth wind on the sting as quick
to make them forget but remember how to behave.
the Unexpected
What do you expect me to do
with all the love for you
that have gathered slowly in my belly
now that you are neither here nor there
and it has turned me
into a purge.
what i think is good for me my chi questions.
Trigger Warning: SUICIDAL THOUGHTS
I want to die
but death won't have me
I want to die
but I worry cause I know
the failure of that attempt will harm me
more than this very pain that makes me want to die.
I LOST IT
It all begins with an idea.
I lost my desire
for travel
to make new friends
of being understood
So every other year
i ask my mother
though she is no longer here
why i have to close my legs while sitting
listen to elders who speak nonsense
relearn all the languages i forgot
Why i have to be christian
or muslim
or dead first
to be able to dream of heaven after my death
when i have already experienced several heavens
even before my birth.
The Age of the Sun
Awakening
Hunger
Search
Reclamation
Renaissance
Curiosity
a realization of the ancient path
an end to sleep
a reimagining of history
the time some of our fathers
thought would never come
is here, and now.
QUEEN OF THE COAST
In my mothers house
there are many mansions
everything i could ever dream
already exists
in the place we came from.
In my mothers land
i wear nine crowns
bear seven heads
and rule over three kingdoms.
In my home
the true place
all kings are mother
and all mothers are king.