Heinous Tribal Marks Poem by Folorunsho Ahmed adekunle

With a glowing face I came to your world,
Like other infants on my first day, they rejoiced,
Talking drums talked love,
Generosity at first not the heinous forthcoming.

Betoken steps from my mother,
Like a criminal I was handed over to skin carver,
"wuan wuanwuan" In state of acute pain i cried,
Suddenly! My faces got stamped with marks.

In jiffy my cheek turn red,
blood mixed with tears flowing down to neck,
Like Moon and stars I was close to death,
Where is the angel that leads me here?

The scar healed taking away my beauty,
Pure minded but mirror says am a beast,
Alone behind mud-wall I cried for justice,
Who then shall show me sympathy?

When tradition justified this act,
God! can you just take me back?
My self esteem was down to ground,
Oh! what a lion fighter!

Insane heritage and culture of land,
With this barbaric practice, indoor in daylight out in the dark?
What a "For better for worse" barrier!
Time heals everything except a tribal mark.