#aminext
We screamed to be heard, marched to express our rage. To bleed with our fallen sisters, for I am her, and she is me. We all lived each other’s suffering.
The dust has settled now, quiet returned.
Yet I still can’t breath. I am still not safe.
I cry silently for my country. I no longer connect to her. My love and pride is only filled with disappointment. She has left me sad, and empty and afraid.
My son asked me, “Why do you refer to South Africa as a she?” I look at him dumbstruck, he continues, “Perhaps SHE has always been a HE!”
This realization is hard to swallow.
This... scares me half to death.
Sep 10, 2019
Sep 10, 2019 at 12:22 AM UTC
Dear Mama, it pains to write this letter to you
I just never thought that this would be the kind of letter I write to you
I wish I was on vacation to send you one telling you how ecstatic I am
How I wish you were here with me
How joyful I am that I worked so hard to be where I am today
Or that you should come to see your daughter graduate
But,
I'm sorry Mama that I didn't come back home
I'm sorry Mama I missed dinner
I'm sorry I missed our 17:00 PM show that we used to watch together to feel happier
I'm sorry you have no one to talk to now because I couldn't come back home
I'm sorry the outfit you bought for me on Christmas is torn
Raptured to pieces like carcasses
Because I was raptured by a vulture
I'm sorry I couldn't get back to my room to read the letter you sent me from the post office
I'm sorry I wasn't aware that it was now unsafe to go there
I'm sorry but I didn't know that it would be my last day to breathe
I'm sorry Mama I couldn't come back home
But I'm safe now, I'm safe now mama
As I write this letter to you, I now know I shouldn't send it to the post office because I don't want the vulture to catch you too
I'll be waiting for you Mama, I'll be waiting for you.
But...
I'm sorry Mama I couldn't come back home.
O.Aphane
Sep 16, 2019
Sep 16, 2019 at 4:20 PM UTC