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