It’s been 30 years
but way more than 30 moments
heavens blessings
and twisted rollercoasters
the person you see before you
actually needs an introduction
because whether u remember me as
shy little sua wit the swoop and side ponytails
or maybe super cool swizzle sua wit the converse with the bows at the end
The “is this the same Sua that got crazy-stupid-thick outta no where?”
Or the “Akooswah” who later learned how to pronounce her own name
the loud laughing
Kanye loving
Pepsi drinking
Big red gum chewing
Anime watching
Forever tweeting
Sensitive lover girl
This is your first time meeting me
30 years of journey
Encounters with death
Plenty concoctions of meds
One too many unstable relationships with men
And yet the one person who prided herself on friends
See I planted a home in each of you
So that no matter where you went in the world
I always had a piece of you
But it has been 30 years yall
30 GoodMorning beautifuls
30 haikus
30 wrong turns
30 txts saying “just thinking of you”
30 crippling fears
way more than 30 tears
30 hours spent teaching me that I was the one behind the steering wheel
Wisdoms you only learn by the cruel hand of this world
Dark dark days
Slow walks
Time forever fleeting
There were times I wished my heart would really just stop beating
Imagine that
Bright white smiling
Always dancing
Always joking
Always grateful for life but
There took a death of my ego, for me to survive this
A breaking of my state of mind
Strapped to a bed and going a month without seeing outside
The woman standing before you
Maybe you call her many names
Call her Su or swizzle, she hates “sway”
Wannie Monnie, Coslaw maybe just “the roses”
AB could be a thing if Sua would get out the way
Or maybe you are my family, you call me Akos reminding me of home
You call me sister, you call me babe, you call me friend
Maybe you have many memories from back in the day
Maybe our connection has seen waves
This person, I’ve witness her grow every day
And her heart, my heart it sings this same song
A smooth rhythm with the soul of the color blue
Or is it mahogany
Either way,
God really called on me
I found myself kicking and screaming in his arms
waving my hands frantically at the ocean of life
I thought I was drowning
My feet couldn’t touch the ground
And I couldn’t taste the difference in the salt of life’s water and the salt in the tears in my eyes
I was going blind!
But I wasn’t drowning
I wasn’t falling
God was baby rocking me, walking me closer to shore
All along and
I felt like I just wasted so much time
30 drinks too many
30 drunken nights
30 hot boxes
more than 30 goodbyes
Instead these were the lessons
Life’s mathematics
Curating me
So, I say all of this to say
Hi, my name is Akosua Renee Bamfo
And I Thank you
Thank you for being a love in my life
for witnessing my 30 moon phases
for 30 laughing sessions
more than 30 FaceTimes
30 deep depressions
30 of them real ugly cries
30 long flights
30 deep breaths
30 “just come over’s”
30 and still alive
God crossed our paths for a reason
And I’m so blessed to know you through all these seasons
Im a walking talking miracle
I look in the mirror and see a living vessel
here for the spreading
A narrative
A testimony
An anchor
To the story of the God who created me
And the light and love you feel in me
Remember is just a reflection of Him

Here’s to thirty Roses.