As a newly married woman in Nigeria, it feels like everyone — family, friends, strangers — expects you to fall pregnant immediately. People start monitoring you. It is always the woman they monitor.
life
SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS THIS YEAR
I don’t mean this in a negative way, but in a matter-of-fact way. You get overly ambitious about certain things, trying to do everything at once while aiming for the same results. If this is you, this can be counterproductive. You need help letting go and creating structure. We can work together, as I have successfully overcome this.
JULIE
Julie She was about five or six years younger than me. Twenty-three or twenty-four, I am not sure. She never told me her age, but I knew she wasn't born before 1989, the year I was born. She was thin, with a voice that sounded like the high-pitched screech of a car coming to an … Continue reading JULIE
MORIBUND
Moribund My mother is dying. One day last June, a friend told me that a person’s eyes turn white when they are on the verge of death. I remember because she used the term moribund. My mother is dying, but her eyes are getting darker. The room is hot. This room, contaminated by the smell … Continue reading MORIBUND
AND JUST LIKE THAT… IT IS A WRAP!
Written By: Fortune Aganbi Wow! I cannot believe that in a few days, we will be saying Goodbye to 2022 forever! What a year it has been. 2022 meant different things for many of us. For some, it was the best year of our lives yet; for others, it was the worst. However you feel … Continue reading AND JUST LIKE THAT… IT IS A WRAP!
THE VISITS
By Fortune Aganbi Photo Credit: PacificPress via Gettyimages They visit me every time. Sometimes it’s the man. Sometimes it's the woman. Sometimes it's the Thing that restricts my airflow and squeezes my navel. Sometimes it's a song that sings darkness, reminding me I'm in the future, perhaps somewhere in 2050. They all fuck me. The … Continue reading THE VISITS
DEAR LAST BREATH
By Fortune Aganbi The day I learned the meaning of the word "abnegation", I was thinking of stars. Not stars as in heavenly bodies, but human stars. The likes of Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo. When a human being is called a star, the connotation is that the person is very successful and accomplished. And I … Continue reading DEAR LAST BREATH
THE NIGHT & FOREVER JOURNEY
The Night & Forever Journey Despite the high level of insecurity plaguing my country Nigeria, I still travel at night. It’s because I am a man who has ‘strong-head’, a word my countrymen use to describe someone who is irredeemably obstinate. A suitable synonym would be ‘coconut-head’ and that’s what I have: a big hard … Continue reading THE NIGHT & FOREVER JOURNEY
RUNNING
RUNNING by Fortune Aganbi Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myselfI am large, I contain multitudes.– Walt Whitman, Song of Myself. My name is Fortune Aganbi and because it's my birth month... *** Growing up, I realized I run away from pain a lot instead of processing it. If something bad happens … Continue reading RUNNING
DEAR FRED AND THE OTHERS…
It's crazy that it is six months later today after you left that I have found the courage to write about us, my silence, the whispers and the truth. Forgive me, I was gathering storms. It's been hard. Everything. I do not know why I haven't taken my life yet. Perhaps it is because my … Continue reading DEAR FRED AND THE OTHERS…
UsEveryday 