Anyema Editorial Short
When I was approached to help with this project, I was moved by the striking beauty of the moments that Dede captures with her essence. She has the sort of beauty that transcends time, gender, and perhaps all the other parameters that we try to place on our existence. So, I wrote a poem for Anyema, and Catia turned it into a vision. Thank you to Two Six Eight Studios for breathing another dimension of life into my writing.
The Written Creation
Introduction
her mother’s voice: Anyema, Anyema
Anyema: i run from the burdens they ask me to bare
her cousin’s voice: Anyema Anyema
Anyema: i run from the ways they say they care
her friends voice: Anyema Anyema
Anyema: i run from their love and deepest fear
her own voice: Anyema Anyema
[This should feel like a dialogue]
Body
i finally look their disappointments in the eye
they are revealed to me clearly
as prescribed appointments of their reality.
in this form, i take their poorly-crafted prescriptions
and fold them into paper planes. then, i fly
on the backs of my artistry to reach the stars
so, each night, i rest with ease in
a cosmos of my own creation
where breath is never ending, as
thoughts birth lives and lives form paths
and paths offer adventures back to love,
reminding me to fearlessly commune for
the liberation of each day, thought, breath
and each night, i rest with ease, flying
on the backs of my artistry to a place
where thoughts birth lives
each day, i birth lives and lives form paths,
paths formed in love, fearlessly
in a cosmos of my own creation,
i finally look their disappointments in the eye
fearlessly communing for
the liberation of each day, thought, breath
fearlessly, i rest
fearlessly, i commune
fearlessly, i liberate
fearlessly, i birth
in a cosmos of my own creation
where breath is never ending
breath is never ending
never ending
never ending
fearlessly
fearlessly, i fly
fearlessly, i rest
fearlessly, i commune,
fearlessly, i liberate
fearlessly, i birth
a cosmos of my own creation
life never ending
[this should feel like inner thought… a thought drifting into sleep]
Conclusion
her mother’s voice: Anyema, Anyema, a name that’s echoes with pride,
anyema: A testament to resilience, as i stride.
her cousin’s voice: Anyema, Anyema, a soft whisper through the wind,
anyema: generational stories carried within.
her friend’s voice: Anyema, Anyema, heavy with wisdom, yet light with grace,
anyema: My journey unfolding at its very own pace.