“My mama told me to grow up
And be beautiful like our sunset,
But what she forgot to tell me
Was to pack a gun for the world
I was growing into had men with no scruples
And no respect for women.“
– Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba
By Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba •
What my mama told me
My mama told me to grow up
And be beautiful like our sunset,
But what she forgot to tell me
Was to pack a gun for the world
I was growing into had men with no scruples
And no respect for women
So before the sunset I had packed my armour
And these feelings of animosity I’d harbour
I paced through the streets for my harmer
No longer anointed with purity, with nothing
To lose
The stinking attitudes and comments
Of vendors
Fueling my desire for vengeance
I sit on a bench and light up my gway
Looks of disgust come shooting my way
I repel them with the smoke I exhale from my mouth
These people and their thoughts are of no interest
To me
Then after a fruitless day, I drag myself home
This poem was originally published on UzanokuKhanya and written by Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba, a depressed sexual violence survivor and aspiring writer, who wants to change the Black community’s beliefs and norms explicitly through her writings.
This is a very powerful poem!
Beautiful