Broken glass by njeri hunjeri
In our highschool, we had to
go for masses every Saturday and Sunday
And some girls even went for
masses early mornings during the week
The nuns kept strict eyes on
us
We had limited socializing
time with our brother school
-a neighbouring boy school
Our school was gated
We had a watchman who analyzed
our every move
We had matrons who
investigated us for anything
But one of the priests, did
not pacifier us
He scrutinized and scolded us
shamelessly
Most of us didn't like him
On our last day of school he
warned us that we were not fully prepared for the outside world
And now, so many years after, I
agree with him
I had a two hour lecture from
my mother for talking to a boy that I went to church with
Her and dad had accidentally
seen me on the street with him
She said "are you trying
to throw all the education that your dad has given you in the river"
December 2004 Christmas eve -
my dad locked me and my sisters in the house after overhearing our exhilarated
conversion of going to a bash that night
- of cause we never told our
friends about the lock up - we knew if we did, we would be the laughing stock
of our youth- and we didn't need that in our resume
We had to act cool like
everyone else
They waited for us the whole
night
Me and my sisters had to dress
a certain way and had to be home a certain time
-that part I understand
We complained because mum and
dad had a picture of when they were young sitting on a motorcycle with my mum
wearing mini skirt, tight top, boots and of cause an afro
I guess that was appropriate
during that era
Eventually me and my sisters
got very creative at hiding things from them
And hitting puberty was tough
for me
I remember having my first
period one weekday morning and going to my mum who was then in the kitchen and
I was so terrified because i didn't know what to say or do
I had learnt about those body
changes in homescience class but she had never talked to me about it
But what happens when those
girls go to college or to the "outside world"
What happens when their peers
become their teachers on sex education
What happens when gated
boarding school, very protective parents and a society where talking about sex
is a taboo is no longer there
-Questions-
-Answers-
Some become very promiscuous,
little sluts enjoying that freedom to the fullest
Others, abstain completely,
they are repulsive to that kind of interactions
Source:
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/broken_glass_654494
Andre Schwarz
