BEYOND SHAME

I grew up
…a blew up
…in a shrew strap
Drinking shame brewed before birth
Eating discomforts whose cooking crews
…knew their hurtful ingredients
So shame became a mountain
…I had to beat
…to survive
Why won’t I be beyond shame?

II
I have crossed the bridge
…where I shiver in front of Asante kwadu
I boldly demand for Bono brɔdeɛ
When my needs come to feed
What is the importance of age
…with no stage of advantage
…and a fear stricken cage
…set by society to still heap shame
…upon the shame youth serves in these dark parts?
I cleared that ridiculousness long ago

III
So serve a heartthrob
…or feed a headthrob
There will be no room for a pleasure rob
And you have the ticket to shout outloud
While shame bathes you publicly
…see if it can take one step in my direction,
I have long crossed the bridge of “be careful”
…now standing on the pate of “I don’t kɛ”
So I only yield in to the complaints of my body
…now that no ngɛɛ calls my gbɛɛ
And so you know-
…babying man pestles
…is a hypocritical trait I weeded out
…long before my bloom
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © June 22, 2019