My writings and my thoughts on writing
© Folakemi Emem-Akpan After four boys, I was tired, fed-up, sick of maleness. It screamed at me from every corner of our home; toy trucks, smelly boots, and discarded car projects. All of me ached for a baby with long dark hair, curly eyelashes, and pink gowns. She was a surprise. The scan prepared our... Continue Reading →
Tick tock © Folakemi Emem-Akpan Tick tock. You can hear your biological clock ticking. And it’s going so fast the sound almost deafens you, so you do what most desperate women do. You go clubbing. The first night, there are more women than men, women who are in the exact same shoes as you’re in.... Continue Reading →
(c) Folakemi Emem-Akpan Who knew life could be so chaotic, so fun-filled, so unpredictable, a veritable stretch of parties, of alcohol, of wild boys; of unbridled freedom. Before now, your life had been extremely sheltered. You were raised on DSTV, chauffeured drives, and overseas summer holidays. There was always a chaperone; at home the house... Continue Reading →
Feyikemi (c) Folakemi Emem-Akpan 2020 Arms folded across my chest, seated in a locked and rigid position because my back wouldn’t budge, my heart beating in a pit-a-pat music of anticipation, I await the birth of my seventh child. I am seated on the rock at the far edge of the compound, away and removed... Continue Reading →
SAVING THE FAMILY (c) Folakemi Emem-Akpan You’d always known that this day would come. Yet, your knowledge does not equal acceptance, and your knowledge doesn’t stop your heart from threatening to beat out of your chest, neither does it stop you from breaking out in a hard, cold sweat even though the weather is bitingly... Continue Reading →
A second chance © Folakemi Emem-Akpan I was determined not to be like my mother. Knocked up at age seventeen, foolish enough to keep the pregnancy even though the guy responsible quickly delegated his responsibility, then escape into a loveless marriage at age twenty. I would not be like that. Then I met Steven. Yes,... Continue Reading →
Glass panes (c) Folakemi Emem-Akpan At first, she seemed to be all glass panes and sharp edges. She was caustic, sarcastic, and yet seemed brittle all at once, like if you came too close or pressed too hard, she would fall apart, disintegrate, get blown into the four corners of the earth. She was... Continue Reading →
For all the little girls growing up in today’s world. And especially for my daughter who is beautiful just as she is, and who should never conform to anyone’s standard of beauty Let’s count the many ways that you are perfect Your hair, halfway between brown and black Your eyebrows, thick and full Your... Continue Reading →
We are born alone...and we die alone. It's what we fill the space in between with that matters
When does shame end and the survival instinct kicks in? And when does shame end and avarice kicks in?
What price would you pay for love and family? Here is the story of a man who learnt love from his family. Now, he is to learn fear
When your water breaks, you feel a dull roar of panic. You are not afraid of the delivery or scared for the baby. You’ve put to bed five times, and this pregnancy never gave you problems. It is the scorn on their faces that you fear. It is the snorts and hmphs of ridicule. What... Continue Reading →
