Ifẹ

In Yoruba language, Ifẹ means “Love”. I chose Ife as the name of this book, because in so many ways, this story is about love—the love that I shared with a woman named Ife, and the love I’ve grown to nurture within myself through the healing I gleaned from that relationship. 

In the summer of 2021, when I was still living in Berlin, I published my very first memoir. The day I held the very first copy in my hands of the very first print book I had ever written—is the same day that I whisked myself away to the German countryside for a celebratory retreat in nature, in community with other women of color. This was the day I met Ife. 

By the end of that weekend, I wrote a poem about a very special, intimate moment we shared together, titled Ifẹ, that I decided to publish in the latter part of my book. I nestled that poem in the book’s epilogue, between the past and future. This memoir, Ife, tells the full story behind that poem.

You may read excerpts and request a copy, below.