Poem by Juka Jabang

Introduction and Context

In early 2024, I shared the image that accompanies this piece with my elder sister, Juka Fatou Jabang. Almost immediately after seeing it, she called me. She said the image carried a profound message and asked what had been going through my mind when I took it.

I could not answer her. Perhaps I did not yet have the words. She laughed gently and said she would think about it.

A few days later, she sent me a poem inspired by the image. That poem appears below.

Juka Fatou Jabang is a distinguished Gambian poet, author, and literary voice whose work has long engaged deeply with questions of identity, society, and the human condition.

Writing since the early 1970s, she has published widely within Gambian literary circles and is the author of notable collections such as The Repeal and Other Poems (2005) and The Phoenix (2012). Her work, celebrated for its depth and social consciousness, has earned her several accolades, including the Tijan Sallah Prize for Gambian Poetry.

Juka graciously consented to the publication of this piece. I have written the accompanying note to provide context and reflection: to explain the personal significance of the image and poem, to highlight the quiet dialogue between her words and my lived experience, and to articulate why this moment feels especially meaningful as the year draws to a close.

The end of the year invites pause. It calls us to look back, to take stock, and to listen more carefully to what the months have quietly taught us. It is in that spirit that I share this poem and reflection.

What follows is the poem my elder sister wrote after seeing the image I shared with her. It is a meditation on time, memory, and the silent conversations we carry within ourselves.

OLD MAN RUMINATING

In the quiet study sits the sage,

Knuckles under chin, head stock-still over the table.

This old-timer, the epitome of experience,

Seated by himself, alone in body and mind,

Is momentarily transposed

Into the dispirited tedium of elderliness.

He reminisces, relishing timeworn moments

Of yesterday’s splendour, lucidity, and lure.

Oh, how time has flown!

He knows it.

He feels it.

He sees it.

Old age engulfs him day by day;

The sensations are real.

He is appalled at how time has soared,

At how reticence deceived him

And circumspection hoodwinked him

Into believing tomorrow was crowded with time,

That there would be time for everything,

That time was infinite and bountiful.

The astute old man invokes his pungent,

Yet fleeting existence, contrite and deep.

He reflects on unexploited opportunities,

Curbed fancies, pleasures sacrificed,

And unfulfilled ambitions—

All surrendered in the name of uprightness and compliance.

Rapt in his musings, he reflects and recollects

Until the doorbell rings,

And he awakes.

Accompanying Note

By Abdoulie Mam Njie

This image captures a moment of stillness—a sacred pause between what has been lived and what remains. It is that quiet space where the noise of the world recedes and the soul is left alone with its memories, its questions, and its truths.

The poem that accompanies this image, Old Man Ruminating, was written by my elder sister, Juka. In her words, I hear not only her voice but also the echo of shared years, shared silences, and shared understanding.

She has given language to what many of us feel but rarely articulate: the quiet reckoning that comes with time, the gentle weight of reflection, and the dawning awareness that life moves swiftly even when we believe we are standing still.

I have written this note to provide context and to share my own reflections. It is an attempt to draw the reader into the dialogue between Juka’s words and my lived experience and to explain why this piece feels particularly meaningful at this time of year.

This image is not about age alone. It is about consciousness. It is about that sacred moment when one pauses to listen inwardly—to measure life not by achievement but by meaning, not by speed but by depth. It is about recognizing that time is both a gift and a teacher: generous, yet unforgiving. Wisdom, we learn, often arrives quietly.

As the year comes to an end, this reflection feels especially resonant. It reminds us to pause, to give thanks, and to consider the lessons, relationships, and moments that have shaped our journey. It reminds us that life is not only lived forward but also understood backward.

That stillness has its own voice. And that in reflection, there is grace—the kind that arrives quietly, asks nothing of us, and yet leaves us changed.

Credits

Poem: Juka Jabang

Image and Reflection: Abdoulie Mam Njie