Culture

Still on the poetry prompts I'm working with. The word for today is ​culture​​​​. Take a loook

I want to tell you storie

About my life and things I’ve seen. 

About people and places I’ve been.

I have a lot to tell. 

Tales both beautiful and ugly. 

Would you like to hear 

The things I did in my youth, 

Little actions I secretly regret. 

Or the ones I do in my old age, 

Those I don’t intend to give up.

I want to tell you about children, 

Little humans running around naked, 

Hiding behind trees pointing at strangers. 

Girls with firewood on their heads, 

Boys with hoes on their shoulders. 

Would you like to hear 

How they peep at adults 

While they take a bath, 

Or how they roam the streets after rain, 

Catching and frying termites. 

I want to tell you about women 

Living in service to their husbands. 

Smoke puffing from their kitchen, 

Trays balanced on their heads, 

Hips swinging in rhythm. 

Would you like to hear

How they make an innocent person 

Confess to killing her husband, 

Or how they go round the village 

Stripping her naked and screaming shame. 

I want to tell you about men, 

Sitting and laughing at unfunny jokes, 

Smoking pipes with stained teeth. 

The oldest breaking colanut, 

The youngest serving palm wine. 

Would you like to hear

How they touch their daughters

And make a man blind with juju, 

Or how they beat their wives 

And take from her while she sobs. 

I want to tell you about a people, 

Accepting a certain way of life. 

Generations go by them

As they hold on to nothing, 

Wallowing in accepted ignorance, 

Would you like to hear 

How they murder 

Whoever that throws a challenge, 

Or how they close their eyes 

While their children suffer.