KAVINI

Some years past
A man who thought himself heaven was reduced to dust
After traveling to a world with no gender roles
And acted like the king of all pleasure holes

II
Shirazu was appalled when he saw his fellow man cook
For a mere woman to eat
So he shouted his disgust, flung his book
Gave the man a seat
And went on a rant
Saying house chores are his can’t
For a man asked to cook must shout his kavini!
A man asked to bath a child must blow his kavini!
A man asked to sweep must slap with kavini!
A man asked to babysit must beat the daring mouth with kavini!
Lest, sweeping turns into scrubbing
Scrubbing turns man into a man-womaning
And man-womaning turns man into societal shame
One even low animals can tame

III
Richard tried to talk him out of his horrifying thoughts
But Shirazu insisted on those thoughts
Until he met Jessica, his heatbeat
And moved in with her
He, who was only schooling, did no work because of his kavini!
He who paid no bills, did no chores and insisted on his kavini!
He who bought naught, wanted to be served so shouted his kavini
…whenever “help in the house” came up
Jessica thought it wasn’t fair
So just a week into living with her
On a night when cold had given birth to hungry frost
She returned home from work
To meet him hungry, angry and cranky
Only for him to hit her
Asking why she took so long
When she knew he had a stomach
She cried out
“That’s why you’ve hands
…legs and a brain”
Shirazu did her more damage and caused her pain
Until the police broke their door
To pin him to the floor


IV
He tasted prison
Forfeiting his schooling
He wanted a reason
For being in the prison
Kavini was his societal tutelage
Taming women through punches was a norm through his parentage
For nearly a decade he rotted in prison
Only to be release as goods shipped back to his people

V
And so it was
That Shirazu learnt the hard way
That kavini was only a local pampering
Which rhymed not with international reality
But preached it subtly when he reached his home
Only for years to blow on his memories
To push his demons forward
Still, hitting women has not been a part
He plays in his cruelty towards his wife
This is the tale
…of Shirazu and his kavini!
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © May 5, 2021