I come from the ocean's side

Nje nshoona (I come from the ocean side)

Nnyemi ke nyekwe, wo fee wo je nshoona (My family both nuclear and extended, we all come from the ocean side)

Bie ji wo shia ( This is our home)

No word of a lie, this is where my dust was drawn

Right here, By the ocean side

All I have to do is to sit by the ocean side.

History aside.

Connection inside.

In this spot right here, its second nature, though i contemplate,

to bear no question as to my place

Instead, I just assimilate

here I know and I am known by my his-story

But first lets take mans-story

Since times inception

before mans conception

My home, the waters,

where my dust was drawn from

has, been.

A strange relationship no doubt, between the created and the curator

Different languages

But both very much communicators

Now give me a babel fish and let me finally hear

hear the words of the oceans deep

What story pray tell, are you telling?

Crash, roar, splash, silence!

Now I hear, I am enraptured as you tell of creatures unimaginable,

Crash, roar, splash, silence!

I hear a song of praise to a God unfathomable,

Crash, Crash, silence!

I am educated of times unlinear, yet of beginning and of end

and

and..

Silence!

And therein the knowledge that this is where my dust is from

Where my strength is drawn

By me and those before me

Nkee nje nshoona

I said I am from the ocean side

Connection aside,

Now my history inside.

Bet you didn't know that I am a part of a fisher folk

Fearless Ga people sustained by the bounty of waters deep

Traversing the ocean with an ease that bespeaks of timeless meets

Long before the crack of dawn

With wide nets and high hopes

With silent prayer and inner song

It is here that we connect with the three

Beneath us, the ocean, on whose horizon the sun overcomes

Over us, the sun, as she journeys outside of time

Around us, time, cocooning our existence

In our vessels we hail all three

Mentally pouring a little libation

In honor of the water, In Memory of yesterday

In honor of the sun, In Memory of tomorrow

In honor of time, In memory of none

Witness to all, Yet witness to none

As we chart familiar ocean highways with no names

History trodden boulevards with no landmarks

This is the daily pilgrimage of my people the Ga, the fisher folk

History inside,

Connection outside

And now both

side by side

I Ahmeda, daughter of Gbese, born on Tuesday

Through birthright, AND through spirit

Unrestricted by time or space

I claim my place

Nkee nje nshoona (I said i come from the ocean side)

N Nyemi ke nyekwe, woo fee wo je nshoona (My family both nuclear and extended, we all come from the ocean side)

Bie ji wo shia ( This is our home)

Ahmeda Mansaray 2006