WHEN WERE WE EVER FREE?

“Growing up
A girl was the company of a mother
Smoke in eyes
Errands on fleek
Submission tutorials
And ginger with pepper suppositories when a mistake repeats
Need I talk about the slaps and whips and insults and curses?

II
Then we grew into teens and blood reared its head
Days of pain and grossness and segregation
After that, household errands multiplied
And chains of society were put on our necks
Lest, we strayed to grow eggs unwanted
Before our sales date

III
We saw the freedom in the boys
Even as we were made silly toys
We could see the wildness in the boys
Even as we were asked to act coy
We could see the happiness in the boys
Even as our cages contorted our feelings
Skirts which showed even our legs were taboos
But they could wear shorts and wake with their bare chests

IV
Then we were sold off
Sold off like cows for few cowries
…in feasts of our defeat
Only to be forced to fit into shadows we knew not
Acting home to wild men
…whose tails could sway 360 degrees
But even when the air lifted our skirts
…we were tagged shameful

V
If we were “blessed” with seeds
We were asked to act tough
Even as food fought our stomachs
And nausea held canes to school our vision
We were told it was no illness
Even as we felt the fevers
…as shivers owned our bodies
And our men still tagged us ugly
And attained cheating chits afterwards
If we were “unblessed” to be “barren”
We were shamed for nature’s curse
And forced to fit into witchcraft
As beings with claws and flaws
…eating seeds of our own wombs

VI
Then children needed to grow
Our eyes and will should make them perfect
If they had biological defects
…like perpetual arrows which faults locate, we were to blame
If they had the wrong gender
…like failed goddesses Fallen from grace, we were to blame
If they grew into naughty children
…like angels sleeping on their jobs, we were responsible
And so they became our children
…and only our children, funny how we had no stakes if they grew well and successful

VII
Then we were to wait around to help our children cater to their children
While taking care of our husbands
We never retired
We then turned into witches
…witches care must be taken in order to tame their horrors
Prayers and hunger
Whips and insults
Sometimes lynching us to end it all
Or at worse
…shunned by the very people we carried in our wombs and suffered to nurture
When were we ever free?
You’ve it easy so thank your stars and embrace your little scars”

VIII
That is what Aunty Muni told Rafia
When her husband beat her like a goat
And asked her to leave his house
Only for him to come for her after she healed
Any wonder she is coming home in a coffin now?
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © November 2, 2021