The Wailing
“There is no greater insult than to have your death ignored.”

The Economist“Nadia, come and read this article out loud to me. Let’s hear what’s happening in the world!”
“Crêpes! Crêpes pour tout le monde aujourd’hui!”
This is the story of how we begin to remember. This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein. Did you hear that line, Nadia? Did you hear it? He is a poet, Paul Simon, a true poet.”
*
This last time, he had been in the hospital for a month. The ambulance came to take him away on a Saturday. The arrival of an ambulance was so much a part of our lives that no one woke me up to tell me. I stumbled down the stairs for breakfast as usual, half-blind without my glasses, wearing my fuzzy slippers and pajamas.
Buongiorno, signorina.”
them

NADIA OWUSU is a Ghanaian and Armenian-American writer and urbanist. Her first book, Aftershocks, topped many best book of the year lists, including Vulture, TIME, Esquire, and the BBC. It was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice.
Nadia is the recipient of a 2019 Whiting Award. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, and others.
She is Director of Storytelling at Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned consulting firm working with social change organizations. She lives in Brooklyn.
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