Will you tell me Mama?
Will you tell me?
Why each day I sit in desolation-
Why I watch through the keyhole as the boys play
I long to be like them, to my dismay I will never!
Mama, was I born never to socialize?
Why me Mama?
Why me?
Why am I the beast of burden?
I wake up everyday to clean and to cook-
To dig and to plant-
To labour on behalf of my brothers
Their excuse-? My place is in the kitchen
Mama, was I born to be a beast of burden?
I don't understand, Mama
I don't understand
Why my younger brother is in class five
While I have never been to school
Am is Baba so adamant that I don't need to learn?
I want to spread my wings, fly like an eagle
Mama, was I born not to discover?
Why is it me Mama, who Baba is always furious with?
Why is he always beating me up?
His excuse-? He is teaching me to grow up
Am I not as good as my brothers, who Baba is so proud of?
Am I not Mama?
Mama, was I born to live in misery?
Do you remember Mama?
Do you remember?
When yesterday suitors flocked our compound
And Baba chose the fat, pot-bellied bald-headed old man
Saying he offered the highest bride price
Am I an asset Mama to be sold off like a cow?
Mama, what is the meaning of life?
Why is it me, Mama, whose life is hanging precariously?
Why is it me who is targeted by the menfolk?
Why do they want to rape me; ruin my young life?
What have I done Mama, what have I done?
Mama, where shall I hide?
My eyes are red and swollen
My throat is sore-
I am tired of a life of captivity
The chain is eating into my flesh
Have mercy on me, on us-
Say NO! To gender discrimination,
Unchain the girl child!
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