Dear Maya

January, 2016.

It’s in the sway of my hips, the strength of my beliefs and the curve of my tolerance.
I am woman, hear me roar.

Dear Maya,
It seems like yesterday I got that call from my mum informing me of your passing. She called too late, I was grieving already, her message was no news.
A few weeks before, I had reviewed my bucket list and figured that in about 18 months from that day, my dream of sitting in your presence and listening to one of your lectures would be fulfilled.

I guess life had a more elaborate final plan for you.

Last night I was at the bus stop
It was really late and I was freezing.
I noticed a cluster of men up front. I was frightened till I remembered who I am. I smiled.

I guess they were more afraid of me than I was of them.

Hey Maya! How is the afterlife? I have been thinking of you all day and reminiscing;
do you remember the first time we crossed paths?
it was a Tyler Perry movie. I was touched by words of the poem in the wedding scene it was "in and out of time".
I rewound the movie for a second listen and then a third. I wanted more. More of the poetry, the prose oh and the recipes! The way you make chicken though, finger licking good!

I guess it was love at first touch.

Lately, I’ve been thinking of the color black and my, it suits me.
as a color, it is warm, it is rich, it is filled with so much potential and then it is more.
Black is the quality of a rich fertile land. It is the color of my beautiful skin and the history of my culture.
I don’t understand why people are so eager to trade.

I guess the grass seems greener on the other side.

I don’t know your position on this matter but still I’d like to talk about it okay?
I read in the papers today that children should be allowed to change their gender before they are 16.
In other words, they believe these kids are old enough to understand and make life changing decisions.
Has it occurred to them that once it is accepted that any kid is of age to make decisions, a predator who can prove a child made the rational decision to be molested, abused or humiliated for money becomes faultless?
A few pages away in the same newspaper, there was a campaign by a cosmetic company urging customers to love their bodies and be proud of who they are. They claimed our bodies are precious.
Liars!!
Why bother loving myself when with enough money, I can change the way I look, function or am perceived.
I grew up knowing effeminate males and masculine females who to date are loved and respected not because they are "different" but for their individuality, charisma and values.
They did not have to hack off their penis or breasts to ensure long life and prosperity. Rather, they accepted their "faults", made it work for them and danced to the music that is life.

I guess the rest of the world is now deaf to that sound.


Maya dear, maybe it's for the best that you are gone. I can't believe its 2 years already.
How is the reception where you are? Have you viewed the earth's latest selfie?
What do you make of our rapidly changing mentality, climate and values?
What drives our traditions today, do you know? Does religion still exist?
Are morality, logical thinking and human pride now based on popular demand?

I guess immediate gratification rates higher than future reward.

If there was a way you could write back, these are the things I'd like to know:
How long do we have till our world implodes? After economic success, what next?
How long would we wander around in this haze of confusion? When would the common good prevail?
I’d tell you something that makes me smile; you added richness to my color.
You were bold, brave and the most beautiful black I've loved.

I guess it’s time to go

Cheers!

Turn it Up!/Belated Happy New Year

There's this native proverb that translates to "as long as its the first time you are seeing a friend in the year even though it is on the last day the of the last month of the year in question, it is proper to greet them by saying - Happy New Year" with that in mind and feeling rather pleased with myself for remembering to do this while the year is still young, I holler a big and cheerful "Happy New Year!!!" to friends, family and fans who are alive and able to read this post.
May this year be one of fulfillment, accomplishment and victories for you.

Walking along the road and cursing the bitter weather, I often wish I had my PC on hand to nag/whine/grumble about how wicked the weather is being and my suspicion that earth has a personal vendetta for me.
What I have done to offend it?
I cannot say.
I know that complaining about the weather would not make it any more bearable but then again wouldn't it?

Based on the marked absence of my once traditional "*Christmas Mangoes" it is safe to say that there is really something up with the weather.

In school between doodling around the edges of my notebook during lectures and willing the time to move faster so I could make it in at the precise moment to eat hot jollof rice with fried plantain/moi-moi and goat meat at Main Gate Restaurant (going too early gets you the tasteless potty-like top of the pot of rice, while going too late gets pieces of fat/bone pretending to be goat meat on your plate of rice often times minus the plantain) a particular discussion caught my attention.
The lecturer was talking about Greenhouse gases, the pros and the cons.
At the moment, I can't recall the precise details of the lecture or what brought about that discussion but what I do recall is that Greenhouse gases was fingered to be reason behind the missing mangoes.
Before I get carried away and go on and on about what other fruits might have gone missing or changed their delivery dates, it occurs to me that persons who were not in that particular lecture with me might still be stuck on “Greenhouse gases” and wondering how a curious green house and probably cooking gas are responsible for missing mangoes or worse be considering that a man named Greenhouse proposed a theory of Gases.

I’d spare your amazing brains the trouble of wandering off to wherever in search of an answer by giving what I believe is a layman’s take.

Greenhouse gases combine to form a nice fuzzy blanket around the earth that allows just enough sunlight to get to us so the planet can be nice and warm. Without the greenhouse gases, earth would be a very cold planet. With this nice greenhouse “blanket” present, when the suns gives off energy, even though the it is miles away, the earth is able to retain just heat to keep us warm while the excess heat goes back to the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases occur naturally which now seems to be a problem for us because we humans are creating more green house gases than is needed (it’s like feeling a little cold and deciding to sleep on a water heater - something you should never ever consider doing between) because not enough heat is leaving the planet while more heat is being accepted from the sun it is getting quite hot in here! As a result, we are witnessing effects of greenhouse gases and global warming. We have floods, lands drying up, some animals dying out, change in seasons (no more mangoes in December) and so on.

Before we have another ice age, evolution, or whatever, it would be a good idea to begin to nag/whine/grumble about the weather so that more people get concerned, ask questions find solutions and practice ways to reduce production of greenhouse gases plus save energy (long story).
On the long run, who knows maybe 10 years from now, I can get my Christmas mangoes in December and see if I am still daring enough to eat more than I know I should at one go.
Until then, welcome to the year twenty-fourteen.
Cheers!

*wink*wink*





*Four to six years ago during Christmas period and early January in my village, I would make myself sick by eating too much mangoes fresh off the trees a pleasurable experience I believed was worth the pain afterwards.