AfrodelicaTo Africa, With Love

Beverly Lwenya

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© 2015 Beverly Lwenya

All Rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Reach me through Twitter @beverlylwenya

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Contents

1. Acknowledgements2. Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba 3. Whispers from God4. New Black5. No Pain, No Gain6. You Still Have Value7. The Entrepreneurs8. Broken Dreams9. Life is Too Long to Keep Memories10. Congo11. Fader12. Afrodelica13. Africa Is Not A Country14. Tembelea15. Ushago16. Atrocity17. DC18. The African Coast19. Burning Ivory20. Why Not Me?21. Freedom22. Drumtalk23. African Babies

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To my loving family: Morris, Anne, Natasha and Tamara. Thank you for your bright love.  I am also grateful to poet Warsan Shire who’s work inspired me to put together this collection.

Lastly, I’m grateful to God who is the author and perfecter of my faith and is the true master crafter, writing a masterpiece through all our lives.

Psalm 45:1 “My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.”

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Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba [Here comes a lion Father] There is a fictitious African country with no African people but many African animals. It's beautiful.It's devastating.Skillfully drawn, willfully thought of. Dusty yet vibrant,Sprinkled with spots of Savannah color.

The lion father heavy with pride emerges:a king, an enemy, an African. 

 

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Until lions have historians tales of the

hunt shall always glorify

the hunter.~ Ewe-mina Proverb ~

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Whispers from God

What a revelationto know that you have God's ear.

And that you can whisper a prayer and he'll hear it, with his African ear.

And then to remember that he longs for those whispered prayers from everyone. 

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God conceals himself from the mind of man, but reveals himself to

his heart.~ African Proverb ~

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New Black

I'm Black but I'm brown,I'm every color,Every shape,Every height,I cannot be stopped.

I cannot be moved.I stand up to be counted,But my eyes render me invisible,I sit down to think,I cannot be stopped. 

 

     

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We face neither east nor west,we face forward.

~ Kwame Nkrumah~

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No Pain, No Gain

The pain runs deep,like rivers of rain,crashing down the drainage,smelting everything in its flow.

Purifying, soothing pain.The kind that you wake up to,fall asleep to,wake up from.

Liberating pain.Never go back pain.Armed and dangerous pain.Limitless borders and bottomless depth pain.That is my pain for you.

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You can’t use your hand

to force the sun to set. ~ Nigerian Proverb ~

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You Still Have Value

A Heart that is dead still has value,A soul crushed still listens, A spirit faint still pants,A nourished wound still heals.

 

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Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy.

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These are things you fight for

and then you protect. ~ Wangari Maathai ~

The Entrepreneurs

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What does it take to piece together a dream?Stitch with one hand they say.Learn with one eye.Leap with one leg they say.Climb with one hand.You'll reach the top.It is possible. Then you'll stake your woven dream,on the mountaintop, for all the world to see. 

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Aid is Political, Markets are Neutral

~ Paul Kagame ~

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Broken Dreams

Mosaic tears,Fill my skies,Daunt my eyes,They’ll stain my thoughts no more.

 

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In the larger affairs the minor are forgotten.

~Angolan Proverb ~

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Life is Too Long to Keep Memories

80 something years,is a really long time,for your heart to beat nonstop;for your lungs to respire continuously.For you to love someone. To have a favorite anything.For you to always hunger, always thirst,always hope, and re-hope. To get up again,to rememberto sing the same songsto have foresight to have hindsight.

 

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If sin persists for a year

it becomes tradition.~ An Igbo proverb ~

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Congo

Why must you always suffer?A jewel has no hands to plead for help,but it has everything to give. Stripped bare,but refined like a diamond. You want for nothing, but you're own essence.

 

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When the leopard has a broken paw,

the antelope comes to collect an old debt.

~Igbo Proverb ~

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Fader

Why must we fear you?You, once an oppressor,twice an invader.  You came. Then pretended to leave.But left when we needed you most. The avenues are well worn;the rivers, the lakes, the oceanshold sediments of memories. Now all that's left is a blank stare.

 

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He who is carried on another's back

does not appreciate how far off the town

is.~ African Proverb ~

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Afrodelica

Assert, accommodate,Bargain, belongCook, clean, count. Dance, Dig, Enjoy,Feel,Gather,Help others. Inspire,Journey,Keep, kneadLaugh very loudly. Mourn, measure, marvel,

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Narrate,Obey, opine. Pave,Quadruple,Reign,Sleep late,Tailor, teach, theorize. Understand, unite,Vex, visit, voice,Wake up early. X-irradiateYearn and yield Zip.

 

Africa is Not a Country

Algeria                                        Angola                                         BeninBotswanaBurkina FasoBurundiCameroonCanary IslandsCape VerdeCentral African RepublicChadComoros

Democratic Republic of CongoRepublic of CongoCote d'IvoireCeutaDjiboutiEgyptEquatorial GuineaEritreaEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea Bissau

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KenyaLesothoLiberiaLibyaMadagascar

MadeiraMalawiMaliMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMelillaMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeria

ReunionRwandaPelagie IslandsPlazas de soberaníaSao Tome and PrincipeSenegalSeychellesSierra LeoneSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth SudanSudanSwazilandTanzaniaTogoTunisiaUgandaZambiaZimbabwe

 

When brothers fight to the death,

a stranger inherits their father’s estate.

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~ Ibo proverb ~

Tembelea

I went to the market to buy some tomatoes,then took the bus to my auntie’s house.

She made me wipe my feet, and pushed me into the kitchen.

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 I gave her the tomatoes,she took them and put them in the fridge,and gave me other tomatoes to cut. I stood by my cousin who was cutting kitungu.We both started crying from the fumes. I helped them cook then went and sat with my new baby niece.My grandfather called me closer and asked me how I was. I sat down on the floor and hugged my nephew.Just then--my sister came out of the kitchen with ugali. My uncles came in from outside with nyam-chom.We gathered around the table and then we sang. My grandmother stood up and prayed. She said "Yesu Cristo",We said amen.  We served our elders,We served ourselves,We sat, we ate, we smiled.  

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I think you travel to search

and you come back home to find yourself there.~ Chimamanda Ngozi

Adichie ~

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Ushago

We wake up with the sunCows, chicken, goats—we meet our flocks.Mornings are for preparation. Water, wood, boils for the house.Kids might go to school today, if there is enough. Afternoons are for work or looking for it. Phones are for calling, technology works for us.Evenings are for meals, shared one to another.Long labor equals long rest so it's back to bed by 8.Rise and shine, another morning. We humbly wake up to greet it.

 

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The old woman looks after the child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old woman when she loses

her teeth.

~ Akan Proverb~

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Atrocity

A familiar word on the continent.It exists in its dual forms:imported and homegrown.Basking in the glow of attention,it never goes away. Fueled by money and power,it rises in distinction--even above peace and prosperity.It sometimes resigns and acts reticent,but is always on a comeback tour.It's time this old timer went out of style,And reared it's head no more.

 

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When a tricky man dies,

a tricky man usually buries him.

~ African Proverb~

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DC

Not quite here and not quite there,Afropolitan in fit and flare.Rummaging through seasons past,for that old, familiar cast.African American, in true form,yet unable to do the norm.

Community found in numbers here,same people, there, we might fear.Food and dance and talk we share,multiple identities, we dare.Years have come and gone and yet,we cannot forget.

 

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At the end of the day,it isn’t where I came

from. Maybe home is

somewhere I’m going

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and never have been before.

~ Warsan Shire ~

The African Coast

Sleepy seaside town,no beach bodies here.

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Exquisite paradise,permanent vacation, location unknown.  Sandy resort gateway. 5 star hotels line the oceanfront, while exploitation lines the pockets.High-end real estate,everyone's investing. Island retreat. Politically and socially conscious vibrant culture and nightlife;hotbed of activism.  Port of trade.shipping out our best importing what we do and do not need.A haunted past remains of those who left in chains. The African Coast wraps the continent. Unencumbered by borders a royal garment, our glorious crown.

 

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Mine is different from ours.

~Igala proverb ~

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Burning Ivory

Our friends are slaughtered,For want of their teeth.Is there no mercy? 

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War has no eyes.

~ Swahili saying ~

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Why Not Me?

I'm not good enough.Crippled with fear,emboldened with pride,I ask why?

Not the right passport. Not enough money. No degree, no education. No access, no entry. But I have so much to give.

 

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A single bracelet does not jingle.

~ Congolese proverb ~

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Freedom

Owning my own decisions, Owning my own discourse,Owning my own mistakes. Saying no to help for helps sake.Relying on my own community, even when it hurts.Only raising $500 instead of $500,000;but I did it on my own.

  

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We desire to bequeath two things to our

children; the first one is roots,

the other one is wings.

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~Sudanese proverb ~

Drumtalk

The beat.Swiftly gliding, Punching through the hush. Lush rhythms are skillfully played-Cutting through the bush. Readily, the orator bellows—eager to impress. Blessed, are those who hear it, sing to it, no less. Steadily,

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I am gently taken, forsaken not, Free, from life's frustrations Dance is mine, with drumtalk.

 

If you carry the egg basket,

do not dance.

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~ Ambede proverb ~

Africa Sings of Her Children

Look what God has knit together.My little ones.Every hue and shade,Carved out of what's most precious to me.

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Entrusted to us, to have and to hold,I'm so proud, so blessed, so happy.Some live but a few moments,Others only in our hearts.The rest born for a fighting fate.They bless and bathe the continent with their smiles and little touch.

 

Patience is the mother

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of a beautiful child.~Bantu Proverb ~

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Beverly Lwenya is a Kenyan-Californian

writer, and entrepreneur. She earned a Masters in African Studies at Yale and Bachelors in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. Beverly founded The Afropolitan Shop, an initiative that helps African designers market their products on a global scale. In Kenya, she served as a program manager with the Deborah Amoi Foundation and as an intern and creative consultant for Mavuno Church. She currently lives and works in Washington, DC as the Communications Coordinator at The District Church.