banner

Since the Fish Pond Experience

Written by

Dearest J,

Catfish

Catfish

How far (as used to be the normal expression, one which has endured into the present moment)?  Distance should not hinder pal’s memory from reaching into the past, reaching to each other.  As they often say, out of sight is out of mind, but you, it is true, have never, neither will ever, forget, or attempt to abandon the images formed since from and since the events of this present subject.  That many have fallen should not indicate the end of the war.  “Life goes on,” the rapper Shakur would say; the community must muster sufficient purpose and strength, especially through its virile leadership to continue the march.  Nothing do you.

You will still recollect that we used to Fish Pond, at the back of college, to harvest fish and spend our free time, or the times we freely made just for ourselves.  In those days, night times seemed longer than they really were, just because we could not wait to launch out for the next hunt.  The Fish Pond family soon to become a sizable one with everyone sharing a sense of communality.  But it did not begin there.

You may also recollect how on that day, we started the journey, the first amongst peers, to wogbo lo.  With locally made swords, which Oyibo people dem dey call machetes, we marooned in the forest, slashing down as many of the boskage, creating pathways where there was initially none.   Locating the first land, we possessed it.  Immediately, the future was begun.  It was not long before  we realized that that particular land, convenient as it seemed, being close to the pond, was most inappropriate to cultivate the efo.   It was only the beginning.  Months later, sharp guys who had learned about the initial breakthrough, and who were as outrageously bold, joined the team.   Quite a lot of events took place between the initial ground opening and this moment.  As black Americans celebrate the Black History Month, one cannot but reminisce the immediate past, locate strengths and flaws; to embark upon meaning-searching frames.

And before you move to doing other things, watch this memory-tripping video of eja aro.  And write soon if you can.

From a fortified city,
Gbem Soweto,

Article Categories:
Culture · Heritage · Humanities · Memory · Religion
Shares