Ezeano Ifunanya
Uses of gun.
Uses of a gun
Point it at a woman
she will let you have your way
force her to keep the baby
ensure the baby returns
home from school lifeless
put everyone a bullet away
from death.
Anger Management Master Class.
If you are a girl sitting at the entrance of a mall and your period cramps
is eating you raw, then, a man walks up to you saying; hey miss, smile!
punch him in the face. If anyone is talking down on the womb that
made you or talking about your father’s job like he’s not another hero
without a cape, punch him in the face. This is the third time you’re
booked for fat reduction surgery but a stranger thinks obesity is
another dry joke to crack, punch him in the face. In this class I’m not
teaching you how not be angry, you are learning how to prolong your
reaction. We are measured by our show of anger, like our kindness was
not taken for granted. A boy cannot show emotions but is dreaded by
the height of his rage, as if anger is not an emotion. Anger is a
characteristic of a living thing but love is the way to grow its embers,
raucous. A woman can not express anger unless she risk been called
bitter. Anger is a good emotion, it helps you say FUCK YOU when need
be. It helps you leave the table when your ass is the meal. When an
angry father moulds an angrier daughter a disaster is born. He teaches
her how to throw punches in self defense but the world encourages her
to throw the first punch and cry the loudest.
If this poem makes you furious, tight your fist, and If the world forgets
to be kind, remind them with a punch of kindness.
African girl.
An African girl__
The seed of an ebony goddess
The dream of this black empress
The hope of the coming Nubian queen
Bleaching out my originality
to feign perfection like it exists.
Ashamed of the body I did not create
picking up an accent that ridicules my mother tongue
eating my dialect like it’s sour
Required from; a smile to help stiffen balls
of men with zero sense of humor.
shaping myself to fit the societal definition of beauty
but if beauty has a standard it should be me.
Expected to be smart and dumb when needed
like a mixture of water and oil
They teach me to be too humble so they can override me
then I become too apologetic and lose my confidence.
They want me to be rich but not too rich,
to keep their ego bloated.
Yes, they want a hyena in a chicken’s body.
So hear me this African girl
Be you, letting every of your light out
dish out your fiercest look
adorn yourself with goals, and big dreams.
Never stop becoming.
You are nature’s most precious art.
An African girl.
Ifunanya Georgia Ezeano is an author and poet. She was shortlisted for British Loft Prize for Flash Fiction. She reads, writes and just wants to live.
twitter: @Nanya_georgia