I Am Always Quiet So That I

I Believe That There Is A God, And Coming From An African Tradition, I Believe Also That There Are Gods.

My Childhood Had Gone By Without My Knowing, And It Seemed As If My Heart Had Frozen.

I Lay In My Bed Night After Night Staring At The Ceiling And Thinking, Why Have I Survived The War? Why Was I The Last Person In My Immediate Family To Be Alive? I Didn’t Know.

I Was Still Hesitant To Let Myself Let Go, Because I Still Believed In The Fragility Of Happiness.

Some People Tried To Hurt Us To Protect Themselves, Their Family And Communities...this Was One Of The Consequences Of Civil War. People Stopped Trusting Each Other, And Every Stranger Became An Enemy. Even People Who Knew You Became Extremely Careful About How They Related Or Spoke To You.