WEAVING A WOMAN'S LEGACY/ Poem by Ajibola Rahmat Olaitan
From dusk to dawn
She became life's pawn,
Permit a woman of her words
To speak true and fight her way around the spheres of the world,
Her feet sunken and her heart half bitten
The stars sees her cry and sends down nothing but pity.
She was accosted by life's shenanigans
Blasphemed and tagged a hooligan
From her day of birth
To the day she'll end up six feet below
Her cries were muffled
In eerie silence, her tone low.
Permit a woman whose life story became the world's comedy
She wept because her fate could not be remedied
Here's a woman whose grave was dug before her birth
For she was cursed, like the world proclaimed.
Permit a woman who was more than a conquerer
But, humanity held no place for her
Her breathing space invaded
As life whirled her around and beat her down
One unholy nights in the street
She found herself splayed at men's feet
Paired with groping hands,
Each stealing a piece of her private share
Till she became a laughing stock for others to smear.
"Through her pain, she declared"
I know my journey here hasn't ended
There will be days when my eyes will water and I will not bend
Like them, I now curse my existence.
Roaming the streets like a lost shepherd
Infant in her arms, father unknown
Fearing not death as it was a welcome relief
From the weight of her own spirit,
To finally freedom in heaven
Peace, in the cradle of her helper.
Give way for a woman
Whom the world wrote off and turned a mockery
Her life inspires and time uncovers her trials
From a feeble helplessness to becoming a force
A force that conquered many miles on her own.
"In a whispered tone and amidst teardrop she said"
I'm not a woman who has lived a life of ease
And the world never came to reason with any of my pleas
Here I am living in the castle of peace,
For I knew much earlier to build my life in a place of thorny trees.
I hope my legacy is one that would forever be remembered
And my story brings peace and makes people stronger!
Iam a woman who has seen the left and right of the world.
©️ Ajibola Rahmat
Ajibola Rahmat is a teenage poetess, dedicated girl-child advocate and creative writer who channels her passion for language and storytelling into empowering narratives beyond words.