Rehema Njambi unpacks identity, faith, womanhood and – above all – agency, in poems partly inspired by conversations with the Black, mostly African, women around her.

Imbued with quiet resistance to patriarchal societies, Njambi's debut collection is an ode to the women who have raised her, and their strength and their ability to hold, sustain, and be rooted in their faith. The poems resound with their idea of home, and belonging they wish to pass on to their daughters.

GHOSTS IN THIS HOUSE

There were footsteps in the dark all night,

almost every night, and we were scared —

but we didn’t say a thing.

She called us to prayer in the morning, every morning.

With our small hands and smaller faith

we asked the Lord for protection —

but He didn’t say a thing.