WHAT THE HAIL
by Lishey Hatuma
Waht the hell!!!!
Oh no: I mean “what the hail!!!”
Spelt H.A.I.L
yeah what the hail???
Is going on??
I’m walking down the street head held high with a spring in my step
seeing this day as a stroll along the beach
In my landlocked country with no seacoast even it weren’t so it’d be too coastly I’d only see it from afar.
Down Cairo road with the wind in my hair I’m filling chilled
I’m gonna chill your bones till they’re cracked hard frozen then hail will rain!!!
“Hey mama nice ass!!!” A scrappy man standing by the corner of a chemist carelessly shouts out to me…..
Me…..
Meeeeee
I’m filled with contempt and disdain my mind is raving,
What the hell!!!?
What the hail?
Oh no darling: hail is what’s gonna rain tonight and you’ll understand that I’m too right by taking You to hell….
That’s hell spelt H.E.L.L.
Got up this morning feeling unreally feminine
Brash my hair back
Threw on my knee long dress
Heels on my feet wide banana smile plastered across
Looking in the mirror I gotta admit I’m the crowning glory of God’s creation.
I’m walking down the road I’m flying without wings.
“Slut”
I hear an old man whose allies
are now ancestors whispering to his son.
Turning I see a wrinkled crocked hand directed towards me…..
Me…….
Me……
Meeeeee
What the hell???
What the hail??? Is what’s falling on this nation
Our elders are supposed to teach us our culture
Upholding our heritage as our trophy most prized possession
It is no accusation!!!
You’re forgetting that our ancestors your fathers and mother’s wore nothing but beads across their breasts
Today I wore a knee length dress and you ruthlessly call me a slut!!!!?
What the hell????
I’m Julia and I wore heels to work last week
The looks I was given made me weak
I could not comprehend what the women in the streets selling tomatoes
were laughing at
But the hate written in their eyes made plain they’re thoughts!!
I’m wearing heels not climbing hills ladies!!!
It’s just a shoe an underfoot buried in dust and gravel with every step
Don’t step on toes you’ll crush my pride.
What happened to the slogan “Together we can all achieve”
What’s replaced the solidarity that was a priority amongst women?
What could have replaced it????
Jealousy???
Envy???
Hate??
Deceit?
What the hell???
Decide and conquer is the strategy they’re using to tear us apart!
I’m a woman and my name is not
Slut!!!!!
Bitch!!!!
Whore!!!!
And it’s certainly not Hole!!!
You can laugh for humor heals tremor but are you laughing with or at me?
What the hail!!!!????
Nooo what the hell?!! Is breaking lose.
Mama told I’m a queen
An African queen
Beautiful with the body of a goddess.
Curves flowing smoothly without flaws
Honey glowing sink and a crown of thick black hair
But today “queen” is a tease
I choose to dress like the queen I am….
Walk like the queen I am…..
Smile like the queen I am…..
And you call me a “Slay queen”
Yes I’m a slay queen!!!!
I was born in royalty….
I’m not gonna cease to not quiet my cause till I have rained hail to slay everything and everyone that’s gonna call me a slut one more time
What the hell???
Ass!!!!……
Pussy!!!……
Tits!!……
Are thrown out at every woman passing in the street
To you they’re just words
But lemme tell you they sting….
They’re more painful than a slap across the face
Lets face it I’m human…
I’m more than a mare object of pleasure.
My Ass….
My pussy….
My tits……
Mine….
Mine….
Mine….
What the hail????
Don’t trash talk me
The only thing that you need to trash is your attitude.
You’ve got this thing in your called a mind
You’ve got to set it right
Cause I’m gonna rain hail till you understand that WOMAN is HUMAN….
What the hell is going off in your mind!!!!
I go church we’re a Christian nation,
Next day it’s Monday morning
I buy a newspaper headline it reads “PASTOR IS ON TRIAL FOR RAPING FEMALE CHURCH MEMBERS IN A PRAYER PRACTICE”
What the hail!!!!?
What the hell???? Is what’s waiting for him……
Even religion is male dominated
we run to church knowing the almighty God who sees all as equals will give us justice
justify our case
but he is a male God the Father and man thinks himself god of the world…..
What the hell????…
A man sentenced 18 years imprisonment for child defilement is released in one month…..
What the hail!?
Have we no rights anymore
You snatch a nation from a people: oh no!! A nation is snatching freedom from a people thrusting It out to outsiders
Like a father snatching food from his little girl throwing it to the dogs
you deny us our freedom….
Be submissive…
Be obedient…
Be humble….
Be tolerant….
You’ll soon be a woman we’re taught from childhood…
Well this is the hood
Only the strong make it
When reason is seasoned..
Enough of the submission I’m a person
I have a mind
I serve God and my submission will be to him alone.
What the hell????
What the hail? Is a storm raging in my heart.
What the hail? Is crushing my pride, dignity and feminity.
Tonight it’s raining HAIL!!!
All hell has broken lose
So have the chains that tied me down.
What the hell????
Spelt H.E.L.L….
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