Engender Zine Summer Special 2020

The waves beneath her feet churned, sloshing against the hull. The tiller in my hand began to tremble, as the waves began to radiate shades of azure.

Her long black hair stretched past her waist, highlighting the red and white beads that were strewn in her hair. Her breasts were decorated with the bones and shells of a goddess that became her protective armament. I looked up, into murky eyes that painted the truths of her primordial being. My mouth opened but only silence slipped out. “Do you know who calls you, akwadaa**?” Her voice resonated like thunder dancing with the sea. I nodded; this woman, no deity, could only be Mami Wata***. “Well then, would you like to see?” She offered her hand and when I accepted, her eyes became clear. A mirror of time itself.

The smell of saltwater left my nose, replaced by the saccharine scent of hibiscus. Rough waters became a mellifluous stream and the rising sun replaced by a waning moon. I spoke for the first time but I sounded far away, like the ghost of myself. “Where are we?” I could not see Mami Wata, I could feel her. “In your realm; all of this you have created.

I simply put it together for you to see.” I felt a kick in my stomach and my hand instinctively went to rub my full belly. “Am I with a child?” By the time I looked up, Mami Wata was already gone. I was left to myself, but there was a warmth inside that felt comforting. Floating down the stream, the humidity cooled on my hot skin. Bangles lined my wrist, embedded with diamonds. My hands rose to my head and I could feel my silken braids bedecked with cowrie shells and these tiny beads of white and red. In contrast with my dark complexion, the beads were unmistakable. They were the same ones that Mami Wata adorned. My old skirt had been replaced with beautiful kente cloth, a luxury that was foreign to me. I felt the same, but everything was different. I was never told that all of this would happen.

“Yere****? Is that you?” The reeds folded under the weight of a frantic man. I called back to the man and eventually, he found me downstream and climbed in the boat. “I have been calling to you for hours, where have you been?” I was unsure of the man who sat in front of me. His head was shaved and gold rings covered his neck. His tarnished clothes were replaced with deep purples, blues, greens, those of a rich man. “Who are you?” I asked beguiled by his fineries. “Me Yere, have you hit your head? We must invite the medicine man to check on you. I