A slave ship, in the evocative prose of Bayo Akomolafe, is not merely a vessel of wood and iron slicing through the ocean's waves; it is a haunting apparition, a floating theater of unspeakable suffering and relentless resistance. It is a grim artifact of colonial rapacity and human commodification, where the body becomes currency and the soul is chained to the relentless heartbeat of history's darkest currents. This ghostly ark navigates through both physical seas and the turbulent waters of collective memory, carrying within its decrepit hull the stolen cries, indomitable spirits, and untold stories of those who bore the yoke of its malevolent voyage. It is a living, breathing scar, seared into the consciousness of humanity, a grim reminder that the deep blue expanse it traverses is far too often stained with the blood and tears of the forcibly displaced.

See also: middle passage, slave trade, white supremacy, colonial order, late-stage capitalism