We stand in the hallway: neither in nor out. My jacket zipped open: neither on nor off. Let these introductions be entirely irrelevant, please. A neither here nor there. And so we stand there smiling, the three of us, each of us hoping our smile will tell the other two we’re perfectly fine with this. […]
moreA man: married, two kids. My relationship with him. He is dead now. They say that on dying, we see our entire lives in a flashback. But when someone dies, it’s not only his own life that flashes by, his shared life with others spreads across the skies. You hear the words “he is dead” […]
moreIt’s late, past midnight. I drink a beer and am rounding up my research for this evening. I simply had to know, right now, how – in factual terms – the Dutch lived in those forts in Ghana. How many of them lived there? Were they all company-employed? What were their positions, jobs, ranks? How […]
moreThere is a school behind my house. A Brazilian nanny was verbally abusing a blonde curly-haired toddler. His cry was coarse, animal-like. Her voice was low and raspy. She was strapping him up into his stroller with forceful and jerky movements, as she tried to hold her irritation and failed to do so. I understand […]
moreI am at Fort Apollonia on the West coast of Ghana. It marks the last fort I’ll visit, as it is the most Western fort. It was also the last one the British built: 1756 (their first was in 1631). I might be overstating things with the following, but I feel it’s a part of […]
more“Make sure you stay friends with your people,” says my guide when we say our goodbyes. I am moving on to the next coastal place as there are more Dutch forts to see. So many of them that I’m running out of time. To stay friends with your people. It is the modus Vivendi of […]
moreShe doesn’t belong, not in this language. Belonging. It’s a word that doesn’t translate into Dutch. Perhaps only cultures who have had to fight to gain territory in this world know what it means to belong. The Dutch sometimes took, but basically simply are. They be. Be-long. To long for. I am at the gates, […]
moreI hear a child screeching. The high pitch is laced with low tones coming from somewhere in his gut. He sounds like a wild animal. I look outside. It’s a beautiful day. I see how this toddler boy is watching a slightly smaller toddler girl leave. She is hanging on to the teacher’s hand as […]
moreIt’s best not to speak your thoughts. But this one thought escaped me. The words simply dropped out of the mess in my head. I was being a really good mother, you see. My son was staying over at a friend’s house. His dad informed me of this during which my ribs tightened. “They have […]
moreAnd there was another man today. He had received notice of his death, the date set between now and then. Then being no later than the end of this year. He can no longer speak. It had me thinking of the walking talking doll I asked Santa for when I was 6. The doll was […]
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