Let tongues bleed.
I hope you never sleep,
As you go through, word for word,
My little conversations in this world,
and pleadings as blood poured.
Till you realize on board
It’s your turn to speak.

Beginning with my unexpectedly falling in grandma’s room this morning as I went to greet her, to my inability to speak when I tried to engage the pap seller,to granny’s sudden illness, and now to this ominous wind that seems to be sending out an even more ominous message, tonight seems so different.

I hear sounds of pleading and thrashing. I can’t sleep. I can’t breathe. I hear a female panting and another shouting for water. With bated breath , I hear a girl say, “Never.” I do not understand this chorus of discord in my head. I wish I could decipher this noise but I’m stuck with voices in pain.

I wish I had… oh how I wish I had listened to Ma when she said to spend the holidays in the city.
Who wants to miss out on more fresh food from a doting grandmother, more freedom from a frail old wonderful woman, and more folktales and ma’s embarrassing moments to hear about from a gifted storyteller? A complete package for an 18-year-old girl tired of the city’s hustle and bustle.

But this… this is different.

It is with the fear of the night that I take great care in the morning to call up mum and ask her about the strange voices. As my mother gives me these words, I stand in disbelief. “It’s a rite of passage, Abena. Your grandma heard it at 18, I did, and now it’s your turn. I only thank God we didn’t get to experience it, but hearing these voices is a blessing in disguise You get to hear of pain and not bear it. Aren’t you grateful? ” Hearing silence on my end, she continues on; “Those voices you hear? it’s a call for a stop to that old, evil tradition of mutilation, honey. The call has been answered in our tribe, but voices still speak when it happens somewhere else. Round up the troops Abena. Talk to your friends about it. ”

I take up a mandate at 18, and it’s for a cause I feel so much for, as voices I do not want to silence anymore reverberate in my head, heart and soul.