The Walls of Elmina

You approach the castle on the top of a hill
It sits majestically
Flanked by palm trees
And washed with ocean breeze

Painted all I white
Sitting majestically on a hill
It’s.. beautiful
And yet

It’s walls contain
Hundreds
And hundreds
Of years
Of torment… pain and death.

It doesn’t hit you immediately
After paying your fee
To enter

Oh no
The beauty of the building
Is still at the
Forefront of your mind

And then the tour guide
Begins to talk
And there’s no time to adjust your heart
There’s no time to adjust your heart

Because the tour guide is talking
And suddenly
The horror
Of the building

The sheer horror
Of what took place in this building
Is right before you
Ringing in your ears

How people
Who looked just like you
We’re captured
Or bribed
And then dragged
In chains
Walking for miles

Some dying on the way

To get to this building

Just pause.

Could you imagine their confusion…

And so they arrived at this building
To be brutalised and broken
Some dying in the process

The walls of Elmina
I wonder what they have seen

As we walked around the dungeons and the upper levels
You can still smell the blood
The aching and the wailing
You can still smell the blood

And all of it took place inside such an
Outwardly
Beautiful
Building.

What would the walls of Elmina tell us today?
Maybe
Just maybe

That behind all of our own beauty
Our jobs
And cars
And achievements

That we too

Should look inside
And check
Deeply check
Whether our inside
Holds horrors

Of prejudice
Or hatred for others
Or twisted discriminations
Or pride in our shade.. our language
Or dangerously…

Ignorance.

What would the walls of Elmina
Tell us all —

Today.

— Words by Seyi

The Child, In You

Dois Irmãos / Two Brothers 

Rio de Janeiro by Wiissa

You see them swinging their legs

With vigour

On the seat of the train

You see them bolting forward

In Olympic sprints

To no particular finish line

You hear them

Loudly debating whether the sky is indeed the sky,

Or instead.. a blanket of gigantic cotton

Fixed in place.. by fairies

They laugh at things which seem

Silly… to us,

They find joy in things

Which seem

Mundane to us

They clap and dance whilst standing in queues

They write revised lists and letters

For fictional characters

Made up by us

Lists and letters of things they desire

For festivities or birthdays,

And they SIIINNNNNGGGGGG

For no reason at all

They can be wholly distressed and melting in tears one moment,

And be dry eyed and hi fiving the offender the next

Oh where does the child go in all of us?

The movement,

The endless imagination,

The ease of forgiveness..

I want to make sure, I keep alive

The child,

That is, in.. me.

— Words by Seyi

Gift

That I

Would have

This,

This..

Gift.

Not bought with anything other than,

Grace.

That I

Would have

This

Sublime

Gift.

To behold,

To see,

To behold,

To look upon..

And take in,

And see.

To look upon,

The treasures

Of earth

And see.

The ingenuity of man,

The sheer wonders of nature,

What did I do to deserve

This

Rich

Gift..

To be able

To see.

— Words by Seyi

Up Up

I know

I know

I know… just how far you’ve come.

The feats won, the rivers crossed, the plains scaled and the many many many mountains climbed..

I know,

I know.

I know the tug to rest a little while, to reflect a little while

I know the preoccupations and distractions that pull your gaze amiss sometimes

But up… upwards

Yes upwards

Don’t lean in too long here..

Up.. upwards.

When you’ve caught your breath and when your tomorrow tugs on your now

Up

Up from here.

The rich wonder of your legacy needs you to get up from here..

Up

Up precious one..

Because there’s a few more rivers and plains to cross, a few more mountains to climb

But be comforted that now you’re doing it all as a very different you

A stronger you

A wiser you

A steadier you

Trust me

Get up from here.

Your future will thank you

For getting up from here..

Up

Up

Precious one…

Up.

— Words by Seyi

Photo | Bibi Abdulkadir by Elisa Carnicer for Net-A-Porter FW21 Lookbook

A World Like This

Could there be a world like this,

Where there is an unspoken ease,

And not a jot of worry..

About whether the tone and hue upon our outer layer,

Will have no heavy weight

Or negative bearing

Upon one’s routes in life or reactions from others.

A world like this where the shape of one’s eyes,

Or the native tongue spoken,

Or the tameness or wildness of one’s head crown… called hair,

Are no hindrances to the doors which open,

Or the hands which embrace you.

A world like this,

Where the complexity of one’s name,

Even in its abbreviated form..

Would not be introduced with dread or fear of the listeners squirm.

A world like this where the same room,

The same corridors,

The same seats,

And the same tables,

Of grandeur… of policy, law and governance..

Are taken up by kindred of contrasting physical, cultural and socioeconomic streaks.

For indeed,

We are all kindred.

A world like this where I,

And let me say it slowly..

Oluwaseyi Ayooluwa Crystal Afolabi,

That I… would be wholly and unshakeably confident,

That when I bring other lives into this world,

They too would be able to fly and explore their world,

Without fetters or bias..

Simply because of their shade of human.

Could it be that a world like this..

Is so much closer than I think,

So much closer than I think.

— Words by Seyi Afolabi

Africa.. Oh Africa

The sound of warm wind in the tops of palm trees,

The melody of children playing and singing.

Tropical birds gently adding to the chorus,

The soft breeze.. filled with moisture from the sea.

 The slow baking from the sun’s smile,

Car horns beeping, sellers calling.

Sweet greetings to ones kin,

And joyous jesting with neighbours.

 Africa, oh Africa,

Do you know just how rich you are..

Just how rich, you are.

— Word by Seyi Afolabi

Photograph: Lake Victoria, Uganda. September 2019.

Oh Woman

Oh woman did you know

Did you know that there were petals

And petals

Of glorious blooming in you

Oh woman did you know

That there were layers and depths and heights to how full and wide and deep you’d grow

Soft laughter would fill your mouth

If you knew back then

If only you knew back then

Just how vibrant and shimmering

Your becoming would be.

Oh woman did you know

Did you know that you’d reach up and grab all the glimmering nourishing sap of growth’s goodness

Your nose would wrinkle and I’m sure you’d pinch yourself

If I told you that what once caused you to fret

And anguish

And turn

And roll thoughts over a thousand times

That those very plagues and weights

Would crackle and dissipate into

Nothingness

Oh woman did you know

Did you know that there were petals and petals

Of glorious blooming - in you

In, you.

— Words by Seyi

Photo by Neemias Seara from Pexels

You Are

You are deserving, of love. You are deserving of love.. mingled with desire and stirred up with honour and sweetened with friendship. You are deserving of the rarity, the topaz gem named - love. You are deserving of being cherished and cared for. You are deserving.. of the sparkling deep orange hued thing called - love.

— Words by Seyi

14th January 2021

Day's To Come

Oh the days of waiting for my beautiful friends, under the awnings of London stations

Warm spring or crisp winter.

The days and joys of choosing restaurants or gallery’s or fairs or shows.

The days of being unhindered to move, and be.. and travel.

But I won’t let me heart sit too long in nostalgia

For life before a pandemic.

Instead, I appreciate now

The many many silver trimmings of now.

Instead I’ll wait

With gleaming expectation of the days to come

The days, that will come

Where we move and mingle and be... once again.

— Words by Seyi

Mother Tongue

Hearing your native accent,
Heavy on top of your English,
Is simply - beautiful.

The innate intonations
And quickness
Or slowness
And sounds.

All piled on top of your English,
It’s simply - beautiful.

Some call you immigrant,
But I call you,
A multi-lingual wonder,
A wonder.

— Words by Seyi

Photograph by Saira Ashad

Blueprint

It’s okay if there isn’t a blueprint for where you’re heading. If you haven’t seen it before in your family. If you don’t find its reflection anywhere near by. Let it be imprinted on your heart. Let heaven be your compass.

Words by Seyi.

Photographer unknown.

Aloe

Aloe Watercolour Art by @Ty_ofo_art

Oh little aloe see you go

Just look at you grow, little aloe

The delight I feel seeing you grow

It may just be a glimmer into the heart of the Creator

As He watches you, and I alike

Grow and stretch and deepen and lengthen Into newness

Into fullness

Oh little aloe see you grow

Look at us go

You and I

Both flourishing

Both stretching

Both stretching... into fullness

- Words by Seyi

Someone's Brother.

Justice for George Floyd. 

Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Yusuf Sanni.

Someone’s brother.

Someone’s son.

Someone’s friend.

Just imagine.

If it was your brother.

If it was your son.

If it was your friend.

Publicly executed in the street like an animal.

His life breath vanishing with cries for his mother.

And now.

Let the cry for justice.

Be strong.

And hot.

And unceasing.

— Words by Seyi

It's Important

To see ourselves in murals and paintings and billboards and videos and magazine covers and in stories and films - is important.

To look outward and see our own reflection in the culture and societies we inhabit is important.

Many of us can identify with the disjoint. The ache. The confusion in childhood and adolescence when the imagery that looked back at us from our worlds... looked nothing like us.

So we internalised hatred for our beauty, became bound to look like something else.. then spent so much of our womanhood trying to reclaim and relearn our magic.

To see ourselves in murals and paintings and billboards and videos and magazine covers and in stories and films - is important.

To the artists, filmmakers, story writers and creators. Please continue to weave the faces and shades and hues of humanity’s spectrum into your work.

It’s life saving, and important.

— Words by Seyi.

Artwork by Elena Gual

A POEM FOR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK | 18 - 24 MAY 2020 

A Mind Within

We see the smile, the skin, the hair

We hear the laugh and notice the gait

We take in the sense of style, the choice of apparel

We learn the outward and register the seen

__

But there is a universe within

Behind our eyes

There is a mind within

There is a stretching expanse, a deep

A plain of memory and hills of imagination

There is a mind within

So intricately complex and endlessly unique

The mind within

__

Oh but the care we take on the outward

The exercising, dieting, relaxing and beautifying

How often do we neglect the mind within

That great river carrying the depths of who we are

The mind within

__

So here is just a little nudge

A literary elbow and flick on the wrist

To not neglect the mind within

To water and nourish, to uproot and detangle

To care for

Oh please remember to care for

The mind within.

Words by Seyi

Artwork by Rebekah Northall

Simple Things

Did it really take a global pandemic for us to appreciate the simple things. The feel of the warm spring breeze. Indulging in the company and smiles of loved ones. Space and time to think. To draw, paint, cycle, garden. Did we really have to be forced to remember the beauty of the quiet simple things. The sheer beauty of the quiet simple things.

Words by Seyi.

Pause.

A pause like this may never happen again. A pause on our routines. On our busyness. A pause on our constant doing. It’s disruptive of everything we’ve known. But it’s also for our safety.

Do more, of the deep work. The inner looking. Draw closer, to loved ones. Bask in the presence of The Almighty.

And on the other side of this, may we all be better, softer.. and deeply thankful for health and each other.

Words by Seyi

Don't Wonder

SOURCE | Soulection via Instagram

I wonder who you'd have been if a lie had never got in. I wonder who you'd have been if limits had never been wrapped around your dreams. I wonder who you'd have been without ever hearing a whisper or seeing a pointed finger. I wonder who you'd have been without the trauma, without the fear, without the anxieties.. 

Don't wonder. 

You're alive. You are - alive. And every day you're alive you can reach for the you, the fullest, bursting and overflowing you that is still possible. Don't wonder. You're alive. To be everything you can and should have always been.

Words by Seyi.