The clanking of efele in the sink as grandma dutifully does the dishes
Running the soiled plates through the water
The cold wet water that has latched onto her very being drawing her back to her beginning
It sends gentle ripples of an earthly peace to travel the wide, intersecting highways of a child’s mind
The quiet thumping of the aziza as my industrious mother sweeps away the dirt, evidence of a lively day drawing lazily to a close
It resounds throughout the chambers of my heart bringing with it the indescribable comfort they call “home”
The air is beautified with the low sizzling of the beloved fried plantains that bask in the slippery touch of heavy oil
Whose scent slowly snakes around the entire household, gracing my family with its delicious
aroma
The graceful stomping of my father’s feet as he dances around to his adored beats of music notes that reverberate throughout his entire body
He sends merry shockwaves pulsating through the wooden floor
My brothers and sisters create our own impromptu melody led by the free spirits of a youthful generation as we run about the happy home knocking down books and toys to and fro
As the hissing of the bubbling egusi soup rages on in that scented kitchen
And the hushed, whispered nighttime tales of the precious mbe and how the foolish turtle cracked his shell
Or the laughable ewu too confused to function in the complex animal kingdom of the vast savanna
The sounds ever ringing in my home are ringing throughout the essence of my existence
They draw the thin moving streams of my soul out to dance along with the beats of a divine inheritance
Oh yes, there is an aura in this abode
One of deep, rich, irreplaceable substance that traces us all back to the land where our names began
Where the bloodline was planted and its seeds watered by the sweat of strong, brave men and women
They call it culture
An invisible string that has sewn our stories together and set them afloat upon the gushing Nile whose mighty cataracts pushes us ever onward
I call it life
Chiamaka Okonkwo is an emerging writer. She is a junior in high school who spends her time composing poetry that takes snapshots of daily life. She can be found running in the park whilst pondering the words of Wordsworth, Longfellow or T.S. Elliot. She has work upcoming in various publications.