My dearest Bophelo,
Born on women’s day You arrived on this earth on a day that celebrates the strength, resilience, and beauty of women. I’m so grateful to be your mom, and I’m honored to watch you grow and thrive.
Bophelo, you are life itself to me. You bring joy, love,…
It’s past midnight.
I’m on the edge of my bed.
The only sounds…
my pounding heart
and my grandmother’s
ancient clock.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
It’s almost deafening.
Maybe I should sleep.
But what if I don’t wake up?
I can’t close my eyes.
My mind is just dancing to fear.
I’ve given myself a racing heart
just by thinking.
I wish I’d said nothing
when…
My Dearest Scars
You were an uninvited guest,
but you made a home in my skin.
A silent story of a battle that found me.
First, you were nothing but pain:
the surgeon’s cut, the chemo’s fever,
a landscape of loss drawn on my body.
But now?
You’re the measure of
How I refused to disappear.
Every mark is…
To smile when your bones hum with ache,
to laugh even as your hands tremble
not because the hurt is gone,
but because you’ve made a pact with the light
to outshine it.
To dance when the sky splits open,
not in spite of the storm,
but because of it
to let the rain baptize you
into something…
From the moment I could speak, my mother, a Sunday school teacher with a heart full of faith, taught me and all my siblings how to pray. It began with simple words of gratitude before meals. Then came morning prayers for guidance, which we prayed as sunlight crept through…