It was spontaneous. Joy sent a text asking if we should get together at a spacious café in Nairobi at 2 pm. The prospect of a face-to-face encounter with women friends was attractive. I responded yes, explaining that I would first need to jumpstart my car and drive it around to charge the battery. It [...]

my name is __________ i am your mother i carried you for nine months i went to the hospital about a week after your due date wait wait wait at Z__________ Hospital i was nervous i had not even been registered a woman next to me suggested i go to a nearby clinic and showed [...]

April 7 is the Day of Remembrance to honor the victims of the Rwanda Genocide, which started 20 years ago. As part of the process of healing the wounds of genocide, at the commemoration in Dakar, Senegal, the following poem by Kim Claire was sung by Kim and her friends.

wheelchairs bought and sold
on street corners
like used cars
but
where do you find an apple
not impregnated by pesticides?![...]

My father liked them separate, one there,
One here (allá y aquí), as if aware
that words might cut in two his daughter’s heart
(el corazón) and lock the alien part
to what he was—his memory, his name
(su nombre)—with a key he could not claim.[...]

A silver beech without her crown.
A pine with limbs lost and bright fresh wounds.
A mighty oak’s snapped trunk.
A linden uprooted [...]

Tous participent à la saison des mangues. Les chauves-souris chahutent dans les feuilles. Des mangues tombent – des bruits, encore des bruits dans la nuit. Le lendemain un équilibre précaire entre les branches se faufile au sommet de l’arbre et permet de descendre les fruits verts, dans un sac de riz, avec une corde attachée. Des bassines sur le sol se remplissent, l’une après l’autre. Les feuilles tombent tout autour, faussant un joli tableau. [...]

In mango season all partake. Bats ravage in leaves. Mangoes fall, thud, thud at night. An overture to balance on treetop limbs and lower green fruit, in a rice bag, with a string attached. Basins on the ground fill, one after the other. Leaves fall all around, making a pretty painting. In the neighborhood and beyond, the harvest is shared. We relish comments about the juiciness of the fruit. And recommendations – try them in a green mango salad, try them in a beef stew or stir fry. [...]