The Child-Bride

Children are a heritage from God, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.

Dark and teary eyed,
Once cheery, with an infectious smile
That set dusky nights ablaze with glee.
Now, that is all gone.
Look behind the smile,
See her fear masked by the upward arch of her lips,
Feel the uneasiness as she is handed,
to her husband.

Broken dreams, ravaged vaginas.
Hope snuffed out by the votes of a ham-handed few;
Behold their cudgel, the long arm of the law;
a weapon against the weak and small.
Step into this field of atrophied dreams,
Where hope lays shattered like shards of glass,
Sprawled on the plush beds of lawmakers
Girls peddled like slaves because their ‘periods’ came home tonight,
Bludgeoned by the ones sworn to shelter them.

The frail flame of the female flower,
Emaciated by the placid phallus of the law.
Gaze upon the child-bride,
enslaved by the whims of wizened statesmen.
No bridesmaids, air-bound bouquet or confetti.
My dear, will you whisper a melody in the hush of those lonely nights?
Will you write your poetry and regale us with tales?
She is the story that was raped by a man old enough to be her father’s father,
The delightful work of art whose hopes and dreams lie fettered to a brute’s groins,
Watch her tears dance to the tune of pain’s dirge.

The Child-bride
South of the Sahara, lost in the dusty climes,
She stands alone.
My daughter, lost in the embrace of another;
for she knows no other life.
My sister, trapped by the con and coins,
Her dreams snuffed right before her eyes.
Hope pawned off for the wild pleasures of another’s lustful desires.
Will you watch them drain her light

– JMD

THE FORCEFUL MARRIAGE OF GIRL CHILDREN AND THEIR ABUSE MAY BECOME CONSTITUTIONAL IN NIGERIA IF WE DON’T ACT NOW. Click here to sign this petition