The Girl Child: A Poem by Naomi
Naomi is a third year student at The Daraja Academy of Kenya from Rumuruti, Kenya. Her parents are pastoralists and although she excelled as a primary school student, she had no hope of raising the school fees to advance her education. She was admitted to Daraja after resolving to not lose hope. Naomi is now an aspiring poet and lawyer, and her creativity shines through all of her work at Daraja. On a typical day, Naomi can be found writing, drawing, socializing with the many friends she has made, and helping other students with their English studies.
Daraja Academy is located in central Kenya outside the town of Nanyuki, about four hours north of Nairobi, Kenya’s capitol city. A boarding secondary school, Daraja provides a quality education to Kenyan girls with top academy scores and exceptional leadership skills, but no means to continue their education past the primary level since secondary school is paired with high school fess in Kenya.
The Girl Child by Naomi, Form 3 (11th grade)
The lives of innocent children have been shattered.
Come look my brethren,
Mighty dreams have been thwarted.
My sister is a commodity of trade,
Only reaching to the third grade,
She found herself under a share,
She became property of an exchange,
Having no say over anything.
I have been longing for revenge,
Heavy penalty but got nothing,
Feel the life of my innocent sister.
This is a public outcry.
I insist on stiff measures,
Both in oceans and in dry,
It is a grievance from all creatures,
The inhuman act of RAPE.
Four humiliating offenses,
To my sister who lacks defenses,
Feel the same of my innocent sister.
My sister is depressed,
No second for deep rest,
In marriage she is oppressed,
Her property lives in her chest,
Financially she is pressed,
Me beast of burdens is hard-pressed,
No matter how she tries her best,
Her efforts are all compressed,
Restricted from searching her light to the west,
Look! She is denied of her life’s zest,
Why her alone and not the rest?
A women has the right to rest,
If allowed she is able to invest,
In enabled she will pass any test,
This is a true word not spoken in jest,
Instilled in me in order to teach the rest,
Feel the discomfort of my innocent sister.
Before my heart was burning hot,
But now I am grateful a lot,
Finally I have reached my lot,
I wish to halt on this spot,
Make a change as small as a dot,
To relieve my sister from the pot,
Because there is strength in everything I’ve got,
There is ability in my innocent sister.
To learn more about The Daraja Academy of Kenya, visit www.daraja-academy.org.
16 Comments
Wow!
So lovely
Wow!
What a nice poem!
Wow such nice poem just poked my heart.
From one girl poet to another, this is amazing. Keep writing; you are inspiring 🙂
I so touched after going through the poem.. Naomi you are a great poet and God Almighty shall guide you to write more inspiring poem.
LOVELY
This is beautiful
Here is mine. I don’t know if it’s nice but am fourteen years old as and I love the girl-child.
It goes this way………
I am a girl and not a slave.
I’m thirteen does not mean I should be given to Uncle Dave.
I work hard to fetch you wood and I am not given any food,
I do the dishes and I am not given fishes.
The fact that I work hard does not mean I am workaholic.
I strive hard just to be beaten by an alcoholic.
I am defenceless to brutality because fear makes me break ceramics.
No, I can’t sit and watch while my future sinks like the Titanic!!
This is beautiful Naomi. I felt it.
This is amazing, am in love with this
nice poem girl
Awesome poem. Please permit me to make some editing and adding of some lines, I want to use it for a spoken word performance and video for promoting a girl child education. I am a spoken word artists. Please reply me on time.
This is so amazing , yu have a skill , im in love with the poem
Wow what a heart touching poem
May god bless all the girld
This poem is just so beautiful! It is written truly from the heart! very touching..Naomi is a great poet!