My grandfathers, whom I never knew,
Nwoye David Adichie and Aro-Nweke Felix Odigwe,
did not survive the war.My grandmothers, Nwabuodu Regina Odigwe and
Nwamgbafor Agnes Adichie, remarkable women
both, did.This book is dedicated to their memories:
ka fa nodu na ndokwa.And to Mellitus, wherever he may be.
Today I see it still—
Dry, wire-thin in sun and dust of the dry months—
Headstone on tiny debris of passionate courage.
—Chinua Achebe,
From “Mango Seedling” in
Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems