Read Time:3 Minute, 8 Second
A Widow’s Cry
Tears of tomorrow's hope tear the heart of an African widow Her tears are like desert of abandoned water oasis No one hears her cry anymore, subjected to pain and penury. She cries for help. The African widow asked to marry her husband's brother, To keep the blood linage or bear a son for the dead. She becomes the brother's inheritance. Today I hear her cry, Her voice like cracked record, Old wrapper soaked with tears, Yet she wipes her tears with it and says: "Oh death, what cruelty! Must I agree? What is the hope of my children? Oh death where is my husband? Why allow ugly scavenger of a brother rip all possessions of our sweat Is it fair that the Kinsmen, the 'Umunna', Wants me - a piece of carcass - for a vulture What a culture, what a tradition, Who can hear my cry? Who can come to my aid?" Sobs away.