A New Book on my Shelf
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a … dis-ser-ta-tion!
Yes!!!
There is a new book on my bookshelf. It is big and black, with beautiful gold lettering. It joins another one that looks just like it.
The Word is an Egg
Don’t let it set your ears ablaze
…
Is an egg:
If it falls on the outcrop
Of a stumbling tongue
It breaks
Ungatherably.
Excerpt from the title poem in The Word is an Egg by Niyi Osundare (2002). Kraft Books, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Have You Eaten?
Many years ago, when I was quite young, I overheard a conversation between my father and one of his friends. His friend, whom I will call Mr. B, was in a gloomy mood. He was telling his troubles to my father. He said that he had done something to offend his wife and as a result he had not eaten all week. He was afraid that he would not get anything to eat for another week.If You Build A Town...
“If you build a town and there’s no drummer, it’s not a town. If you build a town and there’s no dancer, then it’s not a town.”
— Kpelle proverb, Liberia
Merry Christmas
Wishing all of you, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
By the Fireside - Why the Termite is so Destructive
Oh, I was so excited to find this video on youtube. It is an old episode (in 3 parts) of a Ghanaian children’s TV show called By the Fireside. It featured a storyteller narrating a Ghanaian folktale and an enthusiastic audience of children, some of whom acted out the story. As a child, this was appointment TV for me.
Enjoy …
The Magic of Ordinary Writing
The Love Letter
Earlier this year, I had a wonderful get-together with a couple of my girlfriends. They were visiting, so it was a vacation for them but a ‘stay-cation’ for me. The highlight of the event came on the last day, when one of them unearthed a love letter from the sent box of an old email account.
It had been written a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …