Thank You Denmark



Thank you
Denmark
for teaching
me to make
callaloo & dahl
For prompting me
to call my
mother & ask:
How do you cook yam?

For forcing
me
to the Nigerian
Market
& discovering
that
green
plantain
can be
fried
when ripe
that
breadfruit
can be bought
in a tin
& the
importance
of pealing
cassava.

Thank you
Denmark,
for having
all the
Calypso
at the
Library
that I
before
foolishly
took for granted

in the way
we all
take the
air,
&
the way
in which
our
hearts beat.


You might be interested in:
The Legacy Circle
Callaloo Creative Writing Workshops
Naipaul Strikes Again --Recent New York Times article
Did you know that it is now illegal for female Muslim judges in Denmark to cover their heads on the job?!?

Comments

Guanaguanare said…
Interesting way of looking at a place which might seem alien but which in fact brings us to a deeper appreciation of home. Never thought about it like this. Very positive approach.
Blessings,
Guanaguanare
5:03 PM
Lenoxave said…
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I don't know why it takes being away from something that makes us love it more?

I guess it's true that with distance comes perspective.

Why in the world are they not allowed to cover their heads? So-called "threat" perceived w/respect to Islam? A faux attempt to make these women "assimilate?"
9:51 AM
blackgirl on mars said…
Unfortunately, xenophobia seems to be on the rise here in Europe...Take a look at what is happening in Italy for example.
Many here falsely equate a woman covering her head as oppression.
Here in Denmark, there's a Nationalist party that is really pushing the anti-Muslim agenda. It's really sad.
10:15 AM
Mo said…
mmmmmm, i love callaloo!!!!



*i need to make a trip to see my grandmother so she can whip some up :-)*
7:52 AM
blackgirl on mars said…
Or learn to make it yourself! :-) Being here sure made me into a cook! I'm happy to report I'll be seeing my Mummy Hildred this summer!Got the tickets. I'll eat some callaloo for you!
Thanks for reading!
the lab
9:48 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Home.

Image
It's half-past twelve and the rest of the house is asleep while I work on my latest shawl. I can hear the frogs croaking outside and the breeze from the fan is cool on my otherwise hot skin. As I knit, I am reminded of the many evenings I have stayed awake in this house in Diamond Vale, while my grandparents were asleep, and I'd be up late studying for an exam I had to take at Providence Girls Catholic School or I would have been writing a story or something. Sometimes, I just stayed up late to watch television, and in those days, there were only two television stations! There is something about this house that holds me with so much love. Maybe it's the fact that I spent four years here, maybe it's because it's my grandparent's house, maybe it's because it's in the land of my ancestors - maybe it's a combination of all that and more, but I truly do feel at peace here. I was so sick when I was in Denmark. My job really stressed me out. My body felt...
Read more

2018 highlights & gratitude is the attitude.

Image
This is Alanna Lockward this past summer in Berlin. It was the last evening of BE.BOP 2018: Coalitions facing White Innocence.  today I received the very sad news that my friend and mentor, Alanna Lockward passed -  I did not know that grief could make you feel nauseated. I was just in touch with her this past weekend and over the holidays. I was about to apply for a fellowship and she was one of the first people I thought a bout for a letter of recommendation, and in true Alanna style, she did not hesitate with a yes. I decided in the end not to apply, but we continued to chat over WhatsApp - with her last message to me telling me that she was in Haiti and how excited she was for this new year.  Alanna was the brainchild behind Be.Bop -  Black Body politics that met every other year. These meetings were radical in the very fact that they were happening at all. Alanna was able to bring together decolonial thinkers and artists - Walter Mignolo, Tanja Ostojic, A...
Read more

Where do they sell books, now?

Image
The best place to buy a book, if you were to ask me, is from a bookshop. I love bookshops & believe in supporting them. If however, you would like to order my book online, here are two links. One is for my publisher in London, the other is for Amazon - but there are many other book sellers on the internet you can choose from. Thanks for your support!  UK & Europe: Repeater Books  US, North America & the Caribbean  Amazon:
Read more