Stories From Young African Poets: The Want Of Freedom And Adulthood of Salama Wainaina.

…Being a reader is a big part of my identity, mostly because I think I learnt to be very comfortable with myself and my thoughts. Apart from the immersive entertainment that is reading, I particularly enjoy how it sort of holds a mirror up to yourself constantly. So, everything you consume builds you…

I remember wanting many things in my childhood. I did not lack basic needs but rather the longing to be older to do whatever I wanted. I could not wait to complete my primary school so I could go to high school and not have to do chores. Then I could not wait to go to campus to have the freedom our teachers kept saying we would have too much of.

I think I overcompensate for this in the present but I also do not believe it is a bad thing. There are far much worse vices than a little self-indulgence sprinkled with hints of mild self-obsession. The other side of the coin, as I was growing up, was the constant feeling that life was always happening elsewhere, and to other people. I am the quintessential middle child. I do not think I had an overtly rebellious phase or any extreme instances of attention-seeking behaviour but I always felt that more should be happening in my life. I got to unpack this later in my early adulthood and I learnt the value of being an active person in my life.

One of my most consistent habits throughout my life has been reading. I do not remember how I got into it, but I think it was easy for me to pick up books and read because my father is a big reader, so books were always available. Being a reader is a big part of my identity, mostly because I think I learnt to be very comfortable with myself and my thoughts. Apart from the immersive entertainment that is reading, I particularly enjoy how it sort of holds a mirror up to yourself constantly. So, everything you consume builds you up.

I started writing years ago. I attribute my writing to my reading because I think they are connected. I appreciate the fact that anything put forth by a writer is purely their work. I am particularly in love with the creative process, and the creation itself that stands on its own.

Tomorrow by Salama Wainaina


Tomorrow is a place
It is alive and loud
Filled with colours of hope
It sings a song of yellow
Telling stories of flying birds
That talk to the moon
And dance in the presence
Of golden suns, and
Bejewelled night skies.

Tomorrow is a place
A palace filled with laughter 
People rolling on the 
Shiny floors
Clutching their bellies
Wiping away the tears dancing
At the corners of their eyes
Eyes that shine like the full moon 
On a cloudless night 

Tomorrow is a place
A smoke-filled hut
Where the aroma of delicacies
Swirl in the air as children 
Surround the fireplace
Their eyes-full of happiness 
Their mouths- curved up in smiles
Their heads lifted to their cũcũ  
Who tells them-
Tomorrow is a place
Full of song, and light
Swimming in laughter and joy.

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Hannah Omokafe Dennis

Hannah Omokafe Dennis Is A 24-year-old Journalist, Voice-Over artist and UNFPA Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Advocate Living In Nigeria. She Currently Serves As A Community Manager In Konya Shamsrumi AndHas Some Of Her Written Works Published On Writer's Space Africa and audio stories on Genti media. She Enjoys Using Words And Her Voice To Tell Stories. She Tweets @Omokafe_forite.

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