Olamide

by Hawa Fuseini

Bright eyes

Dark life

Twelve years old

and a wife

Olamide is tired of

The agony and strife

Young child married

Her husband is

forty-five

Married off to the rich

so her family can survive

Scars on her face that she always

tries to hide

The old drunkard beats her

After swallowing his pride

Cold memories in her mind

That she can’t erase

She knows her condition is bad

but she can’t beat the case

There’s no way to escape

No way to get out

She pretends it’s all a dream

and one day she’ll get out

In her Imaginary world

She inspires to teach

Children to chase dreams

They think they can’t reach

Teaching is her dream

Money is the scheme

Painted a perfect picture

With many lies in between

Afraid to be seen

She runs to the stream

No one heard from her

Until

Her body was

found breathless by

the stream

…….years later