Written piece
Tolúwalásẹ̀ / God's Will Is Done
Olutosin Olojede
Nigeria
About this piece
Losing a tooth and having a stitch from the extraction come loose provokes a Nigerian mother to consider her thread. As a mother, she finds that her thread is also part of a bigger societal garment – one that begs for answers to why it’s being torn.
I guess I wasn’t careful enough while brushing – the stitch came off. What a relief. I won't feel the loose thread hanging out from my gum when I try to eat rice instead of custard or swallow.
I held the small thread in my hand and showed it off to my children. The culprit that didn’t allow their mother to chew freely.
Yet, it had been good; it patched together the opening where my tooth had once stood.
Could threads be like that – helpful yet bothersome? I sat with the thought.
The thread is as good as it holds. Too tight, it aches with tension, widening the tear it was meant to seal. Too loose, it sags, like eyes in need of cooled used tea bags.
Shouldn’t it be a right stitch in time, saves nine?
I baste my thread thoughtfully through my kids each day, as most Nigerian mums do.
When I stitch tight, I sense the strain. If I stitch light, well, loose kids are not a pleasant sight. I must be precise.
I hold the fabric of my family up under divine light. Dear God, what do you think, am I sewing right?
By evening, I gather with mothers like me under an old palm tree; three mothers from three flats in one small boundary.
We chat about unsettling news ripping through the North and now towards the West - not too far from where we nest. How many threads would it take to stem the tear from splitting near? Does our national garment have a spare?
With unanswered questions, we comfort each other, saying “Tolúwalásẹ̀...it is well.”