Dusk dawn by Waruguru Nyatha Wa Kiai (Kenya)

We walked with our heads bowed

Hands firmly pressed on our butterfly stomachs

We rolled like dead wood, not even once did we sway our hips

How did they know?

We walked on our toes in fright

Our feet never crushed an egg shell

We were silent than the wind

Who told them?

We cemented our breasts with mud

Clogged our vaginas with cow dung

Cut our hair and stopped smiling

Who betrayed us?

We never danced to the drumbeats

Our eyes never sparkled like the sun

We have always held our breath

Never have we lived!

When they chased us down the stream

And slid their hands on our thighs

When they dipped us in water

And discovered our breasts

Was it you who whispered

That we are women?