Not having grown up in the United States and completely overwhelmed by the inhumaneness of inherent and systemic racism, I’ve begun reading up on the history of racial discrimination in the U.S.
At this moment in time, we have the medial “in your face” examples of institutionalised racism and its effects. This has led to an increased awareness here in Europe of individual countries’ own dark history and a stronger voicing of grievances among black European communities.
I have a lot of Nigerian family members, including my brother, living in the U.S. Many married, as my brother did, into Black…
I have decided today, not to fear death
But to look forward to it.
Not cheerfully but to accept it as a chance.
A chance to once again reunite with those
Who I have loved and lost
And who are waiting for me.
Waiting at a place designated
For all those marching ahead of me.
A reassurance. I sigh.
They may, though, be younger than I am. I pause. In fact, very much younger than I am. I feel a familiar wrench in my gut And a sense of trepidation overcomes me. “What if?”, “Oh please, me first.” It is…
“You will never be able to experience everything. So, please, do poetical justice to your soul and simply experience yourself.” Albert Camus
A comfort to my mind and soul you impart in me, Albert, the magnitude of love and the glory of kindness in a wearisome world.
Your observations from the heart walk side by side with a duty to love, no distance apart.
I find the power of unequivocal love in the depth of your reflections as you whisper in my ear that it is merely bad luck not to be loved — but not loving is a misfortune.
…
Is it these tablets
Which keep me alive
Would I be dead without them?
What if I stopped
Would this be it?
Without this medical measure
Would I be gone?
Killed by my rising blood pressure?
What if I intake less salt
Practised mindfulness
Went on longer walks
Slept more frequently
Reduced my girth
Would this lower my dependency
On a medicinal life extension
And prolong my time on earth?
In a reflective moment — before I gulped down my blood pressure tablets — I stopped to think about my dependency on them. …
An Irish-Nigerian soul living in Ireland after 40 years in Germany. A social anthropologist, English teacher, and more. With stories to share; and an opinion…