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What is the quality of the quantity?

In a place where
He would get down
Rather than sit between two women in a public transport.

In a place where
She is asked why she walked ahead of him
Is told it is her place to walk behind him
And not enter a place before he does.

In a place where
He is scolded for being too attached to her hip
For fear that he will be soft and fragile
Hence 'NOT BE A MAN'S MAN'

In a place where
It does not matter
The level of education she gets or her IQ,
She is referred to as 'JUST A WOMAN'.

In a place where
He is left alone with responsibility of bills
Because he is the man and
it is his responsibility and his alone.

In a place where
She is locked out of their late brother/son's house
Because she didn't 'give' him a mini-him.

In a place where
Tradition is used as an excuse
To express their ******* nature
So he marries her
While she plays with her plastic doll.

In a place where
She is seen as not doing anything
Of importance or value
Because it cannot be quantified
As money at the end of the month.

In a place where
The number one mallam presents his "gimbiya" to the world
As a wound-up toy in his triangular doll house of dehumanization.

In a place where
WOMEN are tagged as not having what it takes
Because ONE woman failed at doing a thing

What is the quality of Our quantity?

  ©Belema.S.Ekine
gimbiya: (the hausa word in Nigeria) princess
mallam: (the hausa word in Nigeria and other parts of Africa) a learned man or scribe
I am sewing a dress
with the thread of strength,
And knots of ambitions,
And when it’s ready,
Then will iron it
with the remission,
I am sewing my broken soul!

By: Nida Mahmoed.
RING!!! RING!!!!
The sound before the hello
Ring ring ring
The expectation of the clueless heart
Anticipating the peace that is the Familiar
That Voice permanently engraved in the soul
The symbol of protection and safety
There it comes!!!!
BOOM!!!
The explosion of the heart
BOOM!!! BOOM!!!!!
The Aftermath of the impromptu silence
Just as the strange clear voice escapes the pink vase
Debuting its smashing hit single
It hits the drum when no one is listening for it
Calling out like a violent storm
Threatening to break up the boat on the once calm sea
Like a stowaway hiding in the basement
Only to be revealed by a run of luck.
                
©Belema.S.Ekine
Ring Ring!! goes the phone
He hears her,  he sees her
Calling out in tunes programmed just for her
Can’t wait to hear the smile in her words
No idea what they will talk about today
Maybe he’ll tell her how boring class was
She’ll tell him how she had writer’s block all day
Either way letting each other know the day just begun
The very minute he pressed the green button
Got 50-maybe scenarios off the top of his head
None was anything like what the next 5seconds delivered
A 3rd voice calls, the link severed
Well guess it’s true what they say
2 is company,  3 a crowd
Two questions accompanied by
Shadows of insinuations and accusation
Plunge right through his chest
Resting heavy on the heart
Breaking ground for a long long night


          
©Belema.S.Ekine
Scream!!!!!!
I should scream
Can feel it
Swelling up in my throat
Like a flood
Waiting to clear
All in its path
Surrounded by people
I am forlorn and alone
In a well so hollow
I am lost
Zapped from the bubble
I am now
As a tree
Cut and felled at its stem
Stuck in time
Taking up space
In a field of photosynthesis
I am stump


©Belema.S.Ekine
The lesser gifts.
I hold.
Loosely in my hand.
For they could fly away.
At any moment.

The Greatest Gift of all.
I cling to.
Never letting go.
For He is the One.
Who keeps my soul.
And to Him alone.
My life.
I owe.
Nailed and ******* on hands and legs,
Maimed and marred beyond repair,
Cut and bruised out of shape,
Stripped and peeled, so bare to shock,

Lo, there lies a man! The Son of God,
On a cross erected on the summit of the Mount,
Brutally suspended between Earth and Sky,
Stationed amid thieves on either side.

He slipped and slithered under the yoke of weight,
And tottered the rugged route to Calvary,
Scourged and flogged all along,
He bore the cross with none to help.

Never complained nor cursed but suffered the pangs,
Never whined nor moaned, but drained the cup,
Through His death, mankind was to be redeemed,
By His precious blood, their infirmities to be cleansed

It was for our sins that He lay down His life,
It was our misdeeds that made Him bleed,
It was for our lust that He was painfully stripped,
It was our arrogance that bent Him low.

None could gauge the agony he endured,
No man ever performed such a daring deed,
To liberate mankind, the Lamb was slain,
To lead his Flock, He walked in front.

‘Love your enemy’ was the mantra He recited,
What He preached, He relentlessly practised,
While writhing in pain, He prayed for His foes,
Pleaded with his Father to spare the wrath.

When wrongly accused, never said He a word,
Unruffled remained He on painfully betrayed,
Hard it was to be deserted by those He loved,
Sore it was to be treated so very rude.


The Son of Man came seeking the missing sheep,
He builds from where everything is wrecked,
Rejoice in Him, for He is our Lord!
Adore and worship, He deserves to be praised.

Peace was what He promised the world,
Grace was what He gifted to all,
Look up to the Cross when trials confront,
And cast your burden at His feet!
On this Good Friday, on contemplating the agony of my Lord, I got inspired to write this!
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