Poetry from Sarvinoz Quramboyeva

Central Asian teen girl with long dark hair, brown eyes, and a white collared shirt.

Hello motherland hello land

I was born raised in the bend of this country 

We be sure that you are beautiful today 

It’s all  because of you, my country 

Birds are chirping in your sky

Air quality? Clean and clear

Every boy and girl period 

It’s all because of you, my country 

The magic of the homeland lives in the heart 

Life is different 

Thanks you for reaching this day 

We live in a time of development 

We are taking a step forward 

Not even thinking how it will end 

We are going to the high mountains 

Essay from Mansurova Sarvinoz Hassan

Central Asian teen girl with a brown ruffled blouse and long dark hair in front of a fern houseplant and a window with blinds.

I BECAME THE PRIDE OF MY PARENTS

Sarvinoz Mansurova Xasan is daughter, Student of Bukhara State Medical Institute

Sarvinoz Xasan is daughter, Iʼm currently a 3rd-year student at Bukhara State Medical Institute, majoring in General Medicine. I am a recipient of the “Student of the Year” award and a participant in international conferences. I have authored more than 10 scientific articles and achieved numerous international accolades. I am fluent in three languages. Additionally, I am the founder and leader of “Noza Academy,” established to promote youth employment and the personal development of women.

The foundation of my achievements lies in the trust and hard work of my parents. From childhood, my parents instilled in me a love for books and language learning. Their confidence in me is both a responsibility and a source of pride. From my father, I learned not to give up on dreams, always strive forward, and embrace leadership. From my mother, I learned honesty, relentless learning, and responsibility.

Since childhood, I dreamed of studying at a medical institute and becoming a doctor, which I consider my calling. Despite some opposition from relatives who questioned the value of education for a girl, my father supported me, insisting that his children would be well-educated. At 17, I was admitted to the General Medicine program at Bukhara State Medical Institute, and I saw the pride in my parents’ eyes. I received the “Student of the Year” award at the institute with the close support of my teachers.

In February 2024, our team represented Uzbekistan at an international conference held in Azerbaijan. This conference motivated me to work even harder on self-improvement. The foundation of my success is greatly attributed to my parents’ support. They backed me in every aspect and, most importantly, believed in me.

My ultimate goal is to become a highly qualified specialist in my field and contribute to the development of my country. To my peers and the youth, I want to say that the future of Uzbekistan is in our hands. Do not stop until you become the pride of your parents, family, and country. Always work on innovative ideas and projects.

Mansurova Sarvinoz Hassan is a Student of the Bukhara State Medical Institute and the winner of the “Student of the Year” award from the founder and head of the “Noza” brand.

Essay from Farangiz Abduvohidova

(Young Central Asian woman with a black and white vest and pants, a white collared top, and white sandals. She has long dark hair and is holding textbooks).

Artistic interpretation of folk proverbs in the poetry of Boborahim Mashrab.

Abduvahidova Farangiz 

2nd stage student of Samarkand State University named after Sharof Rashidov.

Mashrab’s creativity has been captivating hearts with its charm, charm and sincerity. Therefore, many scientists and researchers are trying to reveal Mashrab’s poetry and make it easier to understand. One of such literary experts, A. Abdugafurov, commented on the unique style of the poet: “He created an attractive and charming mashrabona style in poetry. “Shokh weight and sonorous radif – rhymes, effective use of the lively language of the people, giving speed and enthusiasm to each verse are the unique qualities of the mashrabona style,” he writes.

Undoubtedly, although the poet did not create special didactic works during his career, he widely and effectively used proverbs, which are examples of folk art, and in this way taught people to be virtuous, to do good and meritorious deeds. wrote verses in the spirit of advice.

You are the best person in the world.

If you break the heart, the floating Kaaba will not be broken? (p. 159).

Through this verse, he exhorts the reader not to hurt someone’s heart, and he exclaims that you should forgive the language of the people, because the destruction of one heart is equal to the destruction of a hundred Kaaba. The meaning of this verse is consistent with the sayings of our people such as “Building one heart is a visit to the Ka’bah of a thousand Meccas” or “Dil ozori – God’s bully”.

Mashrab called everyone to do good deeds, saying that alimi guffar – a scholar of speech, that is, not only a speaker, but a virtuous deed – virtuous in practice, that is, be the owner of good behavior and good deeds. advises:

Don’t be a scholar, be a virtuous deed.

On the Day of Judgment, you will ask for the truth of the servants. (page 109)

The content of this verse is closely related to the content of the proverb “Knowledge to the wise, knowledge to the foolish”.

Mashrab talks about humility, which is one of the most unique characteristics of a person, saying that no matter how much the fruit of the tree is, the head is still (crooked), and he calls people not to be arrogant and proud.

If your head reaches the Throne,

Don’t lose your temper

Every tree has a lot of fruit

Raw… (page 125)

The main idea of ​​this stanza can be equated with the meaning of proverbs such as “Even with a small load, a camel kneels” and “Even if your head reaches the sky, walk towards the earth”.

In Mashrab’s work, we can see that he put forward ideas such as work and hard work, striving to master a craft.

A flower without a thorn, a flower without a pearl, there is no craft without hard work,

You can’t get to the bottom of the road without doing math. (page 149)

In fact, our people have long praised work and tried to raise children in the spirit of hard work. Therefore, the idea of ​​hard work is considered one of the leading ideas in our rich spiritual heritage, and a number of proverbs were created in this regard:

Work is pleasure at the base of work.

Work is the foundation of pleasure.

Work is the mother of pleasure.

We find these proverbs in a different form in mashrab interpretation:

I work to have fun

If you do, you will cry. (page 11)

In conclusion, the verses of the folk proverbs used above, which contain deep thoughts, reflect creation with a spirit of mashraban. He enriched his lyrics through our proverbs that have been refined over the centuries. Boborahim mashrab’s work is one of the masterpieces of Uzbek literature, and this charming and charming poem contributed a lot to the development of original human qualities such as hard work, humility, generosity, nobility, humanity, and respect in the young generation.

List of used literature:

1) Uzbek folk proverbs. T.: Sharq, 2005. Pages 27-28.

2) Kh-davron.uz

3) Sh. Shomaksudov, Sh. Shorahmedov. Wisdom. T.: 1990.

Poetry from Sayani Mukherjee

Haze

The autumn windfall of fallen leaves
A shadowy misty river water 
Sat by the upfront the river cried
A dozen zenith full of wavering sadness
I churned the fall from the seasons
Of Tulip's most unkempt secret 
A lonely hazardous blush garden
All around a throny buzzing
Fall came with its basket 
By the river it was
As I carried the leaves with the moisty touch 
So all were symphony of a cacophonous haze. 

Poetry from Ivanov Reyez 

Simone Weil

                                      If I had seen her in Marseilles,

                                      smelling of mûre-musc soap,

                                      I would have thought her a poet

                                      as we hid from the rain in greyblue cafés—

                                      till she enriched her coffee with her blood. 

                                      At times she was almost a tourist,

                                      a young student curious about living,

                                passionate about dying.  In photographs of her,

                                she was the fixed moment among eternal blurs. 

                                      History, a firefly in her hand,

                                   wrestled in the frames of her mystical glasses.

                                      She hated the Author of her script.

                                      Her scream was prefabricated,

                                      the war to fight before

                                      the ensuing battles of buildings and men,

                                      before adopting Tarzan’s yell

                                      with all the passion of that endless afternoon

                                      in Golgotha. 

                               Tropical Dance

                                      You throw yourself into the dance

                                      As a drunk would against a wall,

                                      Your flowery dress splashing wildly

                                      Like a flower garden in a windstorm,

                                      But no flowers drop to your bare feet. 

                                      With what joy, with what marvel,

                                      I watch your hands rise, your hair fly,

                                      Your dress swing like a cape in the wind.

                                      Your mouth opens and you shout fiercely

                                      The voluptuous thrill in your squinting eyes. 

                                      Oh how you dance: is it to show your thighs?

                                      The night you suck up under your dress,

                                  A music heavy as papayas and coconuts falling,

                                      A sensual finish like morning glories

                                      Splayed for the night after a rainstorm. 

                            No Rewind

                                    Some flowers droop

                                    down the shoulders of the vase

                                    like exhausted tongues.

                                    They rebelled against themselves,

                                    refused to live.

                                    Others look away, their necks rough,

                                    their color faded

                                    into the same zone

                                    where our love disappeared. 

                                    “They don’t last,”

                                    you said, so matter-of-factly,

                                    the morning you choked them

                                    into a tight bouquet in water.

                                    Yesterday you brought me a tape,

                                    and a note in a small cream envelope.

                                    Today I listened to the wrong song,

                                    somehow missed the right one.

                                    When your hands fumbled

                                    with the tape player, when your finger

                                    trembled to my silence—

                                    “You’re a dangerous man,”

                                    your note had read.

                                    “Let’s talk about God”—

                                    and your hand orgasmic

                                    followed in its wake,

                                    I knew that today

                                    a death would separate us.

                                    Whatever music had glued us

                                    during the minutes

                                    we converted into history

                                    was frozen in the violet frenzy

                                    that rounded your eyes

                                    and the tape player

                                    that had no rewind. 

                               Stopgap

                                     It was your face that darkened over me

                                     In the back seat of your father’s car.

                                     It was your name I whispered

                                     To the moon on a hilltop in boot camp.

                                     It was your letters that fired me

                                     Through the snow to the freezing latrine.

                                     But in the Black Forest in rain

                                     I trembled like a wet bird for another. 

    

                                            Saturday Inspection

                                                    By the time they arrived

                                                    Our polished dress shoes

                                                    Were white with frost

                                                    We had stamped our feet

                                                    Walked around in our morning crate

                                                    Our Friday night preparations

                                                    Saturday morning deteriorations

                                                    But what joy when it was over

                                                    When we again were free

                                                    In our fatigues and boots

                                                    When we without duty

                                                    Could delude ourselves

                                                    Downtown in our civvies

                                                    That no war was raging

                                                    In our streets, at our table,

                                              And somebody’s jungle and rice paddies

                                                    Would not fit in the box home

Ivanov Reyez was an English professor at Odessa College.  His poetry has appeared in Paris Lit Up, The Galway Review, The Blue Mountain Review, The Cafe Review, Pinyon, Sierra Nevada Review, and elsewhere.  He won the riverSedge Poetry Prize 2015.  He is the author of Poems, Not Poetry (Finishing Line Press, 2013).  

                                            

Essay from Federico Wardal

Young woman with reading glasses and a blue jean jacket sits and bends over a palette of paints. She's at a table with red wine and flowers and some watercolors.

Nour Kassem (Woods), Prominent Young Egyptian Painter 

I am proud to present in this internationally appreciated magazine the very special, young, prominent Egyptian painter Nour Kassem (Woods). 

Pencil drawing of a blue vase with yellow flowers on a brown table with blue sky outside a window.

Nour says about herself: “I am a fast kinetic person, who wants to work, do activities, and most importantly, create.” The common opinion is that an artist must be focused on a specific artistic sector to give the best. This is not always the case and it is not so in the case of Nour who lives to dance, paint, and even golf, drawing from each of these activities creative, joyful and extremely professional energy with which she nourishes these activities. So Nour does not remain seated or standing to paint but wins trophies dancing tango and salsa and winning golf tournaments. Then she returns to painting, often immersed in the nature and beauty of El Gouna, a wonderful lagoon city on the Red Sea founded only a few decades ago by entrepreneurs Naguib and Samih Sawiris, the creator of El-Gouna International Film Festival (Cinema for Humanity) directed by Marianne Khouri, granddaughter of the legendary film director Youssef Chahine. 

Green poster for Nour Woods at the Nile Art Gallery. There's a photo of Noor with glasses and a white top on the left and a photo of a light skinned man with dark glasses and a black jacket and pink tie with a green and black dotted background.

In fact Nour has her first collective exhibition in 2014 right in EL Gouna at TUBerlin / German University. Theme: By Diversified Gouna Artists.  Then her first solo art exhibition was also in El-Gouna in 2015 at the luxurious Ocean View Hotel with the congratulations of Mr. Samih Sawiris. Other big “solos“ of Nour were in 2017 and 2022 at the Nile Art Gallery in Cairo.

Nour, with short dark curly hair, glasses, a red top and blue jean jacket, next to her smiling and gray-haired mother in a gray jacket. They're drinking Coke.

Nour lives in Cairo, where she has her studio in Heliopolis, but at the moment Nour, with her mother the beautiful Mrs. Mona Safey, is again in El Gouna to paint, where the dialogues of the films presented at El Gouna International FF still echo. But there is also a cinema debut for Nour! A color version and the other in black and white about the famous director Youssef Chahine will appear in the USA-Italian Art Doc Thriller: “Ancient Taste of Death” directed by the Italian director Antonello Altamura about the Hollywood Golden Age and ancient Egypt, with the Egyptian star Wael El-Ouni. Nour, among her 400 paintings, has a series of paintings inspired by Egyptian superstars like Omar Sherif. Probably Nour’s art will be exhibited along the red carpet walk of the sumptuous palace of El Gouna International Film Festival in 2025. Some SF art galleries have expressed strong interest in Nour, whose painting meets the super lively and colorful style of the city of the magical Golden Gate Bridge. 

Story from Muheez Olawale

Home Is Not a Place

I crouched behind the tree and Sewa did the same. My left hand pushed the shrubs aside to get a clearer view while  my right hand gripped the sword tighter.

“He should be around here,” Abiola panted, his eyes taking a quick sweep around the forest, “he’s with his sister. They both can’t move so fast.”

I glanced at Sewa. Tears doused her worrisome eyes. I placed a finger on my lips, and she nodded meekly.

“Can’t we just leave them? We should go get some other people.” Wande’s voice was laden with frustration.

“Oh!” Abiola exclaimed in mock realisation. “We should leave them? So who do we hand over to the slave raiders? Your family? If we can’t produce slaves, we’re going to be enslaved when next those maniacs raid? Isn’t it better we send these children to the slave raiders? There’s no one to help them. In fact, we’re only propelling a family reunion.”

I shuddered. A tear rolled down my bony cheek. Our parents were gone, and now, they wanted us gone as well? What a pathetic world we lived in!

“Let’s search thoroughly.” Abiola pulled out his sword, and Wande followed the same suit.

With each step they took, with each slash of their swords that cut the undergrowth to clear the way, they close in us. Sewa shut her eyes. Prayers rambled silently between her lips. My upper teeth jammed the lower as I raised my sword from the ground.

Seconds trickled past. The right time approached, and I lurched. A swing of my sword caught Abiola in surprise, running past his upper arm, leaving a short but deep mark. He yelled in pain. I rolled on the floor just in time to dodge Wande’s blow, and I was smart enough to let my sword strike his leg. I sprang up to my feet to face the two men whose eyes burn with rage.

“Good as his father,” Abiola sniffled.

“Don’t you dare mention his name!” I screamed.

My belly shimmered with rage. I charged forward. Abiola dodged my strike, baiting me. Wande struck my shoulder with his sword. I fell backwards and pause. A second to gather my thoughts, to navigate the surroundings with my teary eyes.

Wande stepped forward, pointing his sword straight at my chest. I waited as seconds gushed past until his sword was a foot from me. I swirled and allowed his run past before my sword accompanied his neck, stamping the back of his neck with a deep cut. A deafening thud announced Wande’s fall. Abiola charged at me, pouring out all his rage through an earsplitting roar. I faced him. Clangs and sparks drowned the air. I was a good fighter, but Abiola possessed more experience. When he noticed I was gaining an upper hand, he tricks me with his sword and kicked me hard in the groin. I fell helplessly on the hard floor. I didn’t know if my yell was as a result of the indescribable pain or the disapproval of such trickery. Abiola sniggered, satisfaction scrawled all over his protruded cheeks.

“Where’s your sister?” he asked.

My heart skipped a beat, and my eyes darted to Sewa, then, back to Abiola. He was smart enough to follow my gaze. His marijuana-reddened eyes found Sewa crouched behind the shrubs. He snickered, and made for her. I held his leg. He exhaled in frustration and he looked back with a humph. I was awaiting this.

I poured a handful of sand into his eyes. He grunted as he tried to make his eyes remember their duties. I was no time waster. I pounced on him, dealt him some heavy blows in the face before picking up my sword and thrusting it into his lap. He cried obscenities. I pulled out my sword and beckoned at Sewa. She runs to me, crying. Tears rolled down my cheeks now. What did we do to deserve this?

I gritted my teeth. Thinking was arduous righ now. Wande was struggling to sit upright and regularise his breathing as blood spurted out of his neck. Abiola was sprawled helplessly on the floor, his chest rising and falling jaggedly. I remembered my father’s favourite saying: “overcome evil only with good.” I grabbed Sewa’s hand and I ran farther into the forest. Going back home now was a death sentence. Deeper and deeper into the forest, we must go.

#

Sunset was the best time to be in my house. The clangs of plates in the kitchen backyard announced the approach of gbegiriand ewedu soup for dinner. The mortar and the pestle bickered as my father and I pounded yams to make iyan. I was grateful for the kind of family God had inserted me into.

My father, Akinola, was a foremost blacksmith in my village. Everyone sought his services. He had a large farm too. He was rich—richer than the Baale. Despite his affluence, my father was so humble that I wondered if he even knew how much money he had. But he did know.

Struggling widows and orphans enjoyed help from his largesse. He loaned people money with no interest, unlike greedy Samu at the riverside. He was the Baale’s favourite because he put so much in the village’s projects as if he would reap profits.

Not only was my father beneficent to outsiders, but his own family also enjoyed him. My father’s two younger brothers, as well as their wives and kids, regularly came to my father for financial aid. Last week, my father doled a huge sum of money to my uncle, Wande to boost his palmwine business.

My mother wasn’t as popular as my father. She was a weaver, and a fair share of the village women sought her services. Sewa learnt from her while I learnt blacksmithing from my father. It was my lifelong dream to be a successful blacksmith like my father, known beyond the mountains that encircled my village. I also wished to be a skilled swordsman like my father. He was the one of the best swordsmen the village could boast of, always in the front line whenever the village resisted attacks from invaders and slave raiders. I couldn’t wait to inherit the ancestral sword hanging from roof of my father’s roof in my mud house. He had promised to give it to me when the time is right. But the right time seemed to be very far away…

“Tiny arms,” Sewa taunted from the fireplace.

I wiped my sweat and smiled, trying as much as I could to hide fatigue. “Those tiny arms are yours, sister. You can’t even fan the fire properly.”

My mother laughed. I knew she would. She always supported me in this little family feud.

“Well, you can see the fire blazes with more energy than you pound the yams. Even the yams cringe at your laziness,” Sewa pouted.

“Your lips are just as light as the fan you’re holding, always going back and forth without rest.”

“Don’t your dare talk to my princess like that!” Mock anger clouded my father’s face.

“Tell her to know her place and stop talking to my king like that,” my mother came to my rescue.

“King?” Sewa snorted. “He can’t even swing a sword properly!”

“What!” I exclaimed. “I’m already at the sixth level of Ijakadi swordsmanship. Just a level to go and I’ll be at Father’s level.”

Stung, Sewa turned to my father for confirmation. My father shrugged, and I and my mother doubled up in feats of laughter, basking in the euphoria of my victory.

“Yemi,” my father called, “I and I will go to the riverside tomorrow. I’ll teach I the last level.”

I jumped up in celebration and ran around. A fat smile flashed rainbows across my face. “See?” I jeered, “you can’t even make okra soup, and here you are taunting me.”

Sewa dashed a betrayed look at my mother.

“Don’t worry,” my mother said, “I’ll teach I how to make okra soup tomorrow.”

“It’s okay. Don’t let the food get cold,” my father called and we all moved inside the house to eat.

#

I woke long before the first crow. The sun rose from its slumber late. I couldn’t wait for my father to teach me the seventh level of Ijakadi swordsmanship. Most of my peers where still at the third or fourth level. But here I was, a genius!

Hardly had the sun risen when the Baale’s messenger came rapping at our door. He spoke in low tones with my father before they both left for the house of the village head. My father never returned home until the sun stood straight in the sky. Fury was scribbled all over his forehead when he entered his room. He merely nodded to my mother’s greetings, charging straight into his room. He brought out his swords and a gun. He isolated himself to a corner of the room, sharpening and oiling his sword, and cleaning his gun and filling it with gunpowder. Cranky songs of warfare burst out of his mouth. My mother eventually asked him for the reason behind his awkwardness.

“The slave raiders that went to Ouidah are coming here too,” my father began, his sharpening stone running over his sword rhythmically. “Their leader met the village head this morning, asking him to provide some of our kinsmen for sales. What do they think we are? Chickens? Or Goats? A mere commodity to be sold?”

My mother heaved. “So what are you doing?”

“Preparing for a battle!” my father raised his sword. I was amazed as it gleamed in the sunlight that trickled in through the window. “We—I specifically, as the head of our family—-told them that we’re humans, and not mere commodities. The leader of those slave raiders humphed and harrumphed on his way back. He vowed to come with more men and raid our village since we’re being unreasonable with him. Hence, every man has been tasked to go to his homestead, sharpen his sword and fill up his guns.”

My mother gasped frightfully. “Shouldn’t we flee?”

My father spurned. “A real man never runs from fight; he waits for the fight to come to him then, he deals with it. We’ll wait for them to bring the fight, and they shall never return home with their heads.”

“But these slave raiders have sophisticated weapons. Have you forgotten how they sacked Owu? Those people are beasts! Wolves in wolves’ clothing!”

My father exhaled sharply. “Woman, please, leave men’s matter to men alone. This battle is the men’s, and we shall see to it.”

My father swiped his sword of the ground, feeding my ears with a shrill exhilarating sound as he marcheded back to his room. My mother slumped on the nearest chair in resignation.

#

The sun hid behind the clouds that day, scared to witness the brutal acts of man. It peeped from the dark clouds that covered the sky. My father left home with his rifle slung across his shoulder and his sword in the tight grasp of his right hand. My mother’s pleas that he shouldn’t go entered his right ear and flew out through the left ear, with none seeping into his brain. With the rest of the clan, he marched to the village head’s house. There, they all laid an ambush for the slave raiders at the entrance of the village. If the spy was right, the slave raiders would attack that day.

My mother was too terrified to take chances. She hid Sewa and I in the mountains. She promised to return for us when the battle between the village men and the slave raiders was over.

Meanwhile, the slave raiders came as expected. However, things took an unexpected turn. When my father charged at the slave raiders, his sword high above his head, he was suddenly knocked down by one of his kinsmen. By the time he regained his senses, he was in chains, kneeling before the village head and the leaders of the slave raiders.

“What? What’s happening here?” my father’s question burst forth like a fiery fire that engulfed dry leaves in harmattan.

The Baale and the leader of the slave raiders exchanged glances. My father’s scanned the faces of those behind them. He could recognise his younger brothers, Abiola and Wande in the midst of the crowd.

“What the hell is going on here?” my father’s lungs almost flew out of him alongside the scream.

Eventually, the Baale did my father the honour of clearing his throat and speaking up. “Well, Akinola,” he called my father, “I see you’re a brave man. I don’t want us to be slaves. However, fighting against these slave raiders who possess so many sophisticated weapons can harm our village. However, since I and some of my friends were willing to sacrifice my lives for the village, I have decided to hand myself over to the slave raiders, as well as my wives and children. As for you, Akinola, my men still can’t find my children. But I promise I will find them and send them very soon. It is better earning money without losing lives than losing both life and money. I’m sure you understand my views. I’m sorry but I must do all I can to protect this village.”

Tears cascaded down my father’s cheeks as he looked behind him and his eyes found men who shared the same views with him bundled up like chickens up for sale at the market. But he went nearly crazed when he saw his wife among the women tied up behind the men. He yelled as he managed to rise to his feet, cutting the rope tied to his legs. He kicked the slave raider nearest to him in the groin before taking down the village head with a spin kick. He was prowling towards the leader of the slave raiders when his head was hit with a cudgel from behind.

“Bastards I took for brothers” my father scoffed as his eyes closed and he sprawled helplessly on the floor with my mother’s screams filling his ears. Before his senses bid him a temporary farewell, the leader of the slave raiders reminded him that the next time he would open his eyes, he would be in a barracoon like hens in coops, awaiting buyers whom he would take as masters.

#

After spending what seemed like eternity in the cave, I finally came out with Sewa. The sun was just climbing up the sky, and the moon was already saying its goodbye.

“Why didn’t Mother come back yesterday? Did something happen?” Sewa asked as she huddled closer to you.

I shook my head negatively, but I knew something must have happened, I couldn’t just lay a finger on it. Anyways, I would get to the village and find out what happened.

I knew something was wrong when I walked into the compound where our extended family lived and I saw Funso, Abiola’s first son, see me and run back into his father’s house. I called him but he never replied. I ignored him and walked into my father’s house. Sewa and I called for my parents. The gentle breeze never brought their responses.

Suddenly, Wande and Abiola burst into the room, wielding their swords.

“Uncle?” I gasped, uncertain of what was happening. “What’s happening? Where’s Father and Mother?”

“They’ve been sold. No worries. You both would join them,” Abiola’s said.

Sewa and I exchanged horror-stricken looks. Wande charged at me. I picked a nearby earthenware pot and smashed it against his head. Sewa ran out of the house and Abiola followed her. I made for Abiola but Wande held me by my neck. As I gasped for breath, my hand fell on the ancestral sword hanging from the ceiling. I gripped it and struck his shoulder. He winced in pain as he let go of me, giving me space to run after Sewa and Abiola.

Abiola had captured Sewa already by the time I got there.

“Drop your sword!” he barked.

I stopped a yard before him. “Please, don’t hurt her.”

I dropped the sword but kicked it midair. Abiola had to let my sister go to dodge it. Funny. He didn’t know the tricks of the sixth level of Ijakadi swordsmanship. I shoved him against a wall, picked up the sword and ran into the forest with Sewa.

#

We trekked in the forest for four days, and my legs became accustomed to restlessness. I pitied Sewa. She had become so lean that I feared her legs would break if she tripped over a stone. Tears were our only consolation. As my legs pushed me forward, I tried to gaze at the brighter side of the sun, hoping not to get blinded. We would surely get a new place to live, a new home, I hoped.

We stopped at a hill when we saw a cloud of smoke rising to the sky in the middle of the forest miles away beneath the hill. This wasn’t be a hunter roasting meat, I thought. The smoke was as thick as a hippo’s neck. Perhaps, a clan lived there. They would probably take Sewa and I in. With the last of my strength, I proceeded towards the source of the smoke.

“Where are we going?” Sewa asks, “do you know the people there? That’s not a village. Or do you think it is?”

I raised my sword comically and wore a big fake grin. “They can do us nothing. I have you, and I have my sword.”

I marched forward and she followed me. As we trudged down the hill into the forest, I discovered a trail. It was probably left by a lot of people who passed here earlier. Though we were scared and apprehensive, we waded closer to the source of the smoke. As we walked closer, I hear exclamations and chants, and it feels like we were walking back to my village. I kept exchanging wary glances with Sewa.

We trekked for almost thirty minutes and the smoke which was dying already seemed closer than ever. I crouched behind a tree with Sewa to observe what was going on.

I saw people, bathed in grime and dirt like ourselves. These forest-people—or what would I call them?—encircled a huge fire. Some men cut metals off their hands with swords and threw it into the fire. Women and children stood behind them, a smile plastered on each of their faces, though some of them were crying. My eyes swooped down on the fire and I saw that they were burning… Human beings!?

Sewa screamed in horror almost at the same time. I looked at her and returned my gaze to the forest-people; they now looked in our direction. Contrarily, when the men spread out, groping their swords, they suddenly appeared familiar. And when a man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward, my knees weakened at the massive familiarity.

“Father!” Sewa cried as she broke into a run. Tears rolled down her cheeks. I joined her.

My father met us halfway. My mother sprinted to us from the midst of the women. We were all locked in a wholesome embrace for minutes, shedding tears of relief.

“How did you find us?” my father finally asked when the embrace breaks loose.

“We weren’t searching for you actually,” I shrug, “we were just looking for a place to stay after we fled from home.”

“You fled?”

“Yes,” Sewa replied, “Uncle Abiola and Uncle Wande came for us. They wanted to capture us and sell to the slave raiders.”

My mother’s eyes rolled incredulously. “How did you escape?”

I dramatically held up my sword, and everyone laughed clumsily.

“You killed them?” my father asked.

I shook my head and my father sighed deeply.

He pointed at the fire. “And those are the idiots that wanted to turn us to commodity. They turned the back of my people against me. But their mistake was that they didn’t give us enough reason to believe we were meant to be in chains. Even while in chains, we revolted! And here we are! Triumphant! Killing them with their own swords!”

My father’s arrogant cackle reverberated in my ears. I flump on in the floor in a mix of delight and relief. A smile spread on my lips—my first smile since the time I last prepared dinner with my family.

“Everyone!” my father called, “we need to leave here now. You know this is the slave raiders’ route. But we can’t go back home. That village is no longer home. We have to go east, find some black soil with green plants near the river and settle there. It shall be our new home.”

We cheered scamtily. Deeper into the forest we marched. Sewa ran to my father and slid her hand in his.

“Daddy.” She asked, “why aren’t we going back to the village?”

“No,” my father shook his head.

“But that has always been our home!” Sewa protested.

“Home is not a place, princess,” my father says, “home is not where you live. It is amongst whom you live. Home is where the heart resides.”