NIIZI
ALA, daalu so, nne m. ndiichie m, daalu. daalu so, anyi niine.
*
how could i deny myself what you have given me?
what you have granted me, i cannot help but give.
*
coming into my role as historian in familial and cultural contexts, i have come to better understand my reasons for coming to this world. this is a work that i have always felt at the beginning of, until now. there are so many silences, so many absences, so many overwritings to account for. who and what is bolstered by the archive as it commonly exists? how does one bring back into Known Being those (narratives) the colonial and imperial archive has deemed unworthy, unnecessary, and threatening to its motives?
at times, i have felt as though my efforts to recover and uncover are not enough, but finally, i understand that my best is more than enough. remembering and experiencing the fact that i do not operate in isolation from my peoples - living, dead, and other - has transformed my approach to living and making. i am never without anything that i need because there are so many people giving themselves for my sake, and i for theirs.
the work operating as my thesis has not been allowed to unfold entirely naturally due to the restrictions of the institution. it perseveres nonetheless. what is is, regardless of its surroundings. what must occur will occur, despite attempts towards otherwise.
these archival photos of the ancestors whose blood has given me form are precious. the words that exist alongside them are my own reflections on my lineage, my ancestors, the roles we play in each others’ unfoldings.
as we unfold, we help those around us, in all directions through space and time, to unfold.
i give thanks to and for all who embody and surpass the agreements they planted before coming to this world. daalu. wanenu.
*
as you pass through,
hover over fading words.
pull text around the page.
what new phrases do you create?
some images are activated by movement.
reflect on your own connections to those in your lineage.
where do you stand amongst them?
how can you make yourSelves more whole?
KURA
putting together pieces
strewn across existence.
always at work,
putting together,
until
rest.
relief.
in the work,
we’ve granted us
rest.
relief.
whole (even) then
and (certainly) now.
only made more so
by anọ.
final.
((kedụ maka nke ise?))
((onye ga-ewepụta nke ise?))
OGBO N ’ KA NNA
who am i if not you?
reflected and reflected and reflected.
who am i outside of you if not nothing ?
what am i if not every thing
you have![]()
(for) (me) ?
impossible to consider else.
my all.
reflected and reflected and reflected.
who am i outside of you if not nothing ?
what am i if not every thing
you have
given
(for) (me) ?
who am i without the breath you
folded into my chest with patient hands that
have known the ineffable ?
my all.folded into my chest with patient hands that
have known the ineffable ?
who can i be outside of
![]()
other than nothing?
you,
other than nothing?
impossible to consider else.
my all.
ami be ameh se a’o nje?
mma
mma
gbi
sua nsi,
gbi sua nwen.
gbi sua nwen.
ami be ameh se a’o nje ami si nne one ri.
ami be ameh
ami be ameh
sere be esoi
re a’o gbun.
wemi oso tima oso obor yo ra
bere mor enu,
se enu re labiri?
wemi oso tima oso obor yo ra
bere mor enu,
se enu re labiri?
ami nga bela e se a’o nje?
a’o be
a’o be
damor enu ra.
rim baba gbi mpio kuru nnara.
a’o be damor enu ra.
a’o be damor enu ra.
EKE
seeing you,
i recall feelings of
longing .
longing
restored
within my chest.
scraping
against my sternum
searching for the
peace of recognition.
myself in you.
you in me.
imagining you had what i have not.
freely, entirely, ravenously.
to bring forth the life it is![]()
to bear.
full.
unfettered.
free of all that burdens me today.
imagining the space
for void to consumefreely, entirely, ravenously.
to bring forth the life it is
destined
to bear.
full.
unfettered.
free of all that burdens me today.
i pray you were are free of my burdens.
i am![]()
myself and therefore
freeing you.
i am
freeing
freeing you.
imagining you had cooling breath despite the heat
of being.
knowing my invention of
you exists alongside you.
i imagine you as best i can.
i imagine![]()
know me
better than i myself.
i imagine that is how you guide me.
of being.
knowing my invention of
you exists alongside you.
i imagine you as best i can.
i imagine
you
better than i myself.
i imagine that is how you guide me.
KITA
shoulders
your frame weakened by the
unrest that has made space for
itself in all the little places your
body has kept for relief
*
//bone meets unrest meets ligament//
//skin meets unrest meets flesh//
![]()
//bone meets unrest meets ligament//
//skin meets unrest meets flesh//
*
how long can these spaces grow,
expanding themselves where
they do not
belong
before
your being can no longer
hold all of you as one?
expanding themselves where
they do not
belong
before
your being can no longer
hold all of you as one?
((what was)) once firm and full
yields to a
of
itself.
*
yields to a
fading
afterimage of
itself.
*
what has
![]()
can never be
![]()
gone
lost.
