Showing posts with label calabash poem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calabash poem. Show all posts

Friday, 6 January 2017

My mother's daughter


 I am my mother's daughter,
Always eager to carry people on my back
when they'd never dare to hold my hands 
I give and I give until I have nothing left to give.
My mouth runs faster than a leopard
Like a wood frog my feet refuses to 
touch the ground on gloomy days 

I am my mother's daughter, 
I could try to fix a broken glass
With a pinch of prayer and a tub of glue 

I am my mother's daughter,
I pick myself up before I fall.
You are so strong. 
I am told
If only they knew how heavy
the waters fall from my eyelids at night.
Like rainfall in the Amazon forest.
But even after the heaviest rainfall
comes sunshine.









Wednesday, 4 January 2017

Chokers, crop tops and skin tight skirts..







How comfortable do the chokers feel?
Do they cut your words every time you try to speak?
And the white crop tops?
How many times do they remind you 
to tuck in your stomach 
-just like your other insecurities?
Do you sometimes feel like
unpacking parts of yourself then stop
because other men may get threatened?
And the skin tight skirts..?
Do you hear their silent whispers
when they tell you to
keep your legs closed?
I was born for the loose shirts
and flared pants.
They help me run far,
far away from ideologies
and break out of boxes
created to constrict me. 

Sunday, 1 January 2017

Pretty Picture



We are picture perfect
until the picture becomes prickly,
poking at even our smallest insecurity.
Filtering our flaws away, because
pretty pictures turns people's pupils.

So we put on masks to match expectations,
forgetting the long term implications.
They say imitation is the best form of flattery -
Our feeds are flooded with flat belly,
fat back, five foot something IG sculptured models.

Forget the pretty pictures, the models and the expectations.
Why not go on an adventure?
have some cuddle nature -
time is a priceless expenditure,
don't just spend it for the picture
How much are you willing to splash out
for a pretty picture?