Having recently read Waris Dirie’s (The Original Desert Flower) previous experiences of Female Genital Mutilation (Sunday Times Magazine) and the incredible charity she has set up to protect daughters of families who practice FMG, I felt compelled to write the following poem to help raise awareness of this human injustice and would like to honour Waris Diries and The Desert Flower Foundation for their noble efforts to prevent the ignorant brutality.
FMG : A CRIME, A SIN, A HUMAN INJUSTICE
Taken by the hand,
A girl aged just five to seven,
She doesn’t understand,
It’s her “ticket to heaven”.
She’ll remember this day,
Reminders; there will be plenty,
It’s not time for play,
It’s “preparation” for her being twenty.
More likely, much younger,
The reason for today will come,
And not at all, for some.
Her chaperone blinkered and stern,
In the name of Allah the deed must be done,
Prepared to be forceful, it is her turn,
The little girl’s instincts’ scream, “shun”.
Stopping abruptly, she’s met by her mum;
In the back of her mum’s mind, she wished she had had a son.
For what she is about to do,
Is torture her daughter,
She knows this well having been too,
Like a lamb to the slaughter.
The blood she will lose,
Her life is in danger,
Infection, disease,
Her mother’s a stranger.
In the agonising days ahead of her,
She will feel pain with no end,
For the rest of her life,
This day will extend.
The man picks her up,
He lays her across a table,
The girl trusts her father,
So he’s easily able.
Little does she know,
She should kick and punch,
For no help will come,
When it comes to the crunch.
Her family surround her,
The time ahead will strip them of their definition,
Perpetrators is what I prefer,
This poor little girl, the only one to demur.
Brainwashed they restrain her,
Her legs sprawled open,
Allah they refer,
The Quran, they should reopen,
For no holy book would condone their actions to follow,
Unbeknown to their ignorant, uneducated minds,
Their actions are hollow,
A vast majority find this impossible to swallow.
Their international counterparts;
People of the same faith, who’s stomachs’ are churning,
Know this family are far from discerning,
They may prevent hostility towards them in their locality,
But little do they know the extent of their brutality.
This pure, innocent, and vulnerable child,
Subject to a pain never felt by most of humanity,
To be bestowed on her by the one’s she loves,
It’s just utter insanity.
For the satisfaction of a future husband she’s not ready to know of,
Her family grant him more power than god,
What god fearing man would find satisfaction,
As a result of such barbaric action?
A dirty old razor blade extends from her mother’s hand,
Her clitoris cut, and then canned,
Her shriek is soul destroying,
Excruciating pain flows through her body.
Cry as she might,
It’s far from over,
Pharaonic circumcision involves moreover,
Again, by her mothers hand,
Her labia are cut,
Sharp thorns are used to close the wound shut.
Her screams are deafening,
Her quality of life diminished,
Shock, and Infection still threatening,
The detriments remain unfinished.
Continuous bleeding,
Her anatomy asunder,
The whole situation’s an extreme blunder.
Sickeningly,
Her family are proud of their work,
According to them they hadn’t shirked.
Illegal, their actions,
Immoral, much more,
Their work shakes me,
Shakes me to the very core.
What ensues?
Chronic Inflammation of her vagina, bladder, and/or kidneys,
An inability to pass urine,
A tumour the size of a tennis ball,
Incontinence,
Sexual discomfort,
It simply won’t do,
Such a future for this little girl is so incredibly undue.
Her future husband will cut her open for intercourse,
Her husband and family will show no remorse,
It’s right by them and that is that,
It’s just the little girl’s habitat,
What god forsaken place would promote such inhumane behaviour?,
Where the perpetrator is considered as some form of saviour!
This lunacy must end,
We must collectively halt this trend,
Innocence cries for help,
Gasping for air between each yelp.
If only we could gift them with power,
If only each girl had their own desert flower;
A charity protecting young girls from such terror,
Funding their education and family expenses,
Parents protect their daughter’s as they should,
In-line with naturally compassionate parenthood.
This Desert Flower must grow no end,
For their are thousands of daughters it has to defend.
If you would like to know more about Waris Dirie and The Desert Flower Foundation and support them in their worthy cause please visit: http://retteeinekleinewuestenblume.de/
OrdinaryDecentHuman 