My husband and I

purposely waited six years

before we had our firstborn

      My African friends

      shook their heads

      with despair, sadness

            “God will someday bless you,”

                 they said

            “Keep praying”

In Africa

the worst thing

that can happen to a person

is to die without descendants

thus breaking the link

between the ancestors

and the living

So when I finally gave birth

my African friends were ecstatic

      “God has finally

      answered your prayers!”

          they exclaimed