THAT I AM A FEMINIST

That I am a feminist

Does not make me a lioness

Asking for fairness with mouth

Holds no threats of witchcraft

Neither does it hold bullets for crucifixion

Let alone bombs for company extinction 

II

I know there are the kinds who want war

And house machetes, arrows and spears

Bullets and bombs of words 

To pursue their targets like terrorists

But in the end, they are just toothless dogs

Toothless dogs barking too loud blocking the audibility of their owners

And help the criminals get away

III

None cries in the rain to seek sympathy from the heavens

I know the right path to fairness

Fighting with fairness

Martin Luther King Jnr. and his followers’ bodies were toys

But their deeds of zero aggression made most of their haters their boys

Kwame Nkrumah’s body held no gun

But his voice and reasoning won for Ghana independence

Nelson Mandela’s body had to suffer

But his patience and silent arguments made him an icon forever

Who am I?

Just a feminist who fears to be a door mat

And can’t stand my others being stepped on

Even a goat winces when whipped

IV

I am also a manist

Am I not?

Will I ever stand to see my father pounded like a foodless mortar?

Will I ever stand to see my brother being beaten like a drum?

Will I do to my husband what I dread?

Can I ever stand to watch my son stepped on

Like clean clothes in muddy waters?

Who uses his left hand to point to her father’s house

In a community where the left is known for babysitting the rear

In its naked and disgusting times?

V

Fairness is what I yearn for

Ears are all I need on seats as audience

Reasoning are all I need in heads to turn

Compassion is all I need to cook in hearts to free this world

Of the hurts of the fragile-but -trong life makers

That I am a feminist does not make me a monster

That I am a feminist does not make me an alien

That I am a feminist does not make me a bedbug to be squashed

One person can never fight without all eyes poking their brows

I have no weapons to raid

Bringing in weapons of victimization makes you look odd

Makes me look bad

Makes us look weird 

As the mouth of the earth’s cries go unheeded

I am a feminist

That I am

Not a ruthless terrorist

Gunning for blood to feed pets of vampires

I mean who does that?

I know you know your defensiveness spells your guilt

So please step down

Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) 2015

(Photo credit: www.dezireefinearts.co.za)