Such a pretty girl, such a lovely face. You cannot believe what they planned for little Grace.
She has dressed up for the party, she is twelve today the house is full of women they are all Aunties, that is what her mamma says.
She can’t remember details not her screams that made her mother pale. She does remember blood OH! it was everywhere. She remembers the cobwebs on the ceiling at which she had to stare.
The pain is still so awful she can’t get out of bed, there is so much blood but none of it is as bad as the thoughts within her head. So tired and in need of sleep but the pain is so intense that she cannot find rest, the pain does not relent.
They told her she was clean now , and fit to be a bride. They said she was a woman and she should be filled with pride.
Poor Grace could feel no pride, all she felt was pain from the stitches and the feeling that she would die if they touched her again. She feared growing up and having to marry a man they told her they’d have to cut the stitches then. She could not bear that thought..I do not think anyone can.
This poem is about female circumcision or female genital mutilation( FGM ) as it is commonly known. I could not write this poem last week but I did post a link to information on this abuse. But I felt I must be strong as I must bring this abuse of young girls to your attention. So there it is a poem for Child Abuse Awareness Month.
Female, wife, full time mother and Grandmother. I am not as happy go lucky as I used to be but I am still bubbling along on simmer! I have three handsome sons all grown and flown.The youngest married with a beautiful wife and two sons of his own. Back in 2010 I was working, running a home, driving and socializing then bang in a split second all that was gone. I had an accident at home. I broke my back, not for the first time, I had broken it 10 years previously as well. Unfortunately this time I had broken it really badly and it was truly messed up so I had to have two operations. I was told before each operation that the outcome could mean I spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. Still as some guy once wrote "I am still standing " yes "better than I ever was " I no longer use the walking stick . I had lots of friends before the accident but when things like this happen, you loose most of them. Their lives move on and mine stood still and so they left me behind ...I know that is just the way life is but it hurt and always will. Then I looked around and saw those who were still there for me, these friends are the roses in my garden they need to be tended well. They are the diamonds in the dust. I will of been married 53yrs this comming year. I have found different ways to approach life, use my pain befriend it almost...yer right , well that is what they tell me at the pain clinic ROFLMAO ...... if only I could! I have found an outlet for my fears, frustrations and night terrors . I have started writing poetry if that name can be applied to my writing. I hope I do not come over as a moaning winger. I hope I am past all that. I also hope that you might see how the poetry is moving from very dark through the grey and hopefully in to light.
My back is no longer straight it is C shaped because of the injury and I have lost two and a half inches in height but my Pilates and Core teachers have helped me to stand up as straight and be as strong as possible. Pain and depression are still hanging on my arm but I have weapons to use against them and if I say so myself I cope well.
I have made lots of new friends, real diamonds. I am also very grateful for all the support and help I have encountered here on Wordpress. Hugs and welcome to everyone who visits.
View all posts by willowdot21
yeah, like thinking of me, my would-be daughters undergoing such practice? its a sad thing because there’s nothing we can do about it, especially if its a cultural matter…keep our eyes closed and indulge on these gruesome reality…awful indeed
It is indeed unthinkable but we can’t always keep our eyes closed. It is illegal here in the UK and in many other countries. Also thankfully there are extensive health programs in the countries where the practice is rife. To educate parents including the men as to the negative health issues mental and physical that will effect the women if they are forced to under go these practices.
i was thinking twice about that eyes closed, it doesn’t mean to neglect sorry for that, but that’s what i did after reading this… yeah how could i forget that we can do something about it?i’m a nurse myself but not practicing, i know a lot about health teaching.i haven’t had any idea if such practice occurs here in the Philippines so this one’s new to me..thank you for opening my eyes again… i am learning from you 😉
Sadly you are learning horrible things. As soon as this month ends I hope you will see I can write about other things! Be brave and keep well. No need to apologize ever language can be very tricky!! 😉 😀
These are such terrible practices and yet no one seems able to eradicate them. This is as bad as slavery was, if not worse! When will man be what he claims to be: sapiens?
Where the hell are such traditions embraced!
Poor she…imagining her had cut me in to two; one crying for her & another disgracing the narrow-minded she’s surrounded by:'(
There’s a great book on this horrendous subject written by a woman who escaped having it done to her. It’s called “Do They Hear You When You Cry” by Fauziya Kassindja. xx
Hello Gaye, thank you for stopping by and reading this poem. Yes it is hard to read and even harder to write about! Yet as you say this is still happening and so we must just go on until it is stopped.
Your poem tells the story of the horror and pain of female genital mutilation. Women are scarred for life physically as well as emotionally and what is so wrong about this s the fact that some people consider it to be necessary to keep a girl pure.. It is going to take some serious education on the ills of FGM for this practice to stop.
Yes you are right people do not want to admit that FGM happens. Governments say they have it under control or the the practice is dying out. This is not true. Young girls are violated like this all over the world Daily.
As you say they are physically and mentally scarred for life. It makes sex painful and hinders child birth. It would be a very different story if it was something men had to endure. We need to make people listen. I know that men do get circumcised but it is nothing like FGM nowhere near as dangerous or painful.
Yes you are right people do not want to admit that FGM happens. Governments say they have it under control or the the practice is dying out. This is not true. Young girls are violated like this all over the world Daily.
As you say they are physically and mentally scarred for life. It makes sex painful and hinders child birth. It would be a very different story if it was something men had to endure. We need to make people listen. I know that men do get circumcised but it is nothing like FGM nowhere near as dangerous or painful.
willowdot21 
This hurts me tangibly.
OH! it was so hard to write, it hurts me too.
that child’s eyes, there’s so much about that eyes, it really hurts me a lot… i could feel the pain 😦
I know it is terrible isn’t it! I just could not go into details,I just had to give up on the research it just to awful.
yeah, like thinking of me, my would-be daughters undergoing such practice? its a sad thing because there’s nothing we can do about it, especially if its a cultural matter…keep our eyes closed and indulge on these gruesome reality…awful indeed
It is indeed unthinkable but we can’t always keep our eyes closed. It is illegal here in the UK and in many other countries. Also thankfully there are extensive health programs in the countries where the practice is rife. To educate parents including the men as to the negative health issues mental and physical that will effect the women if they are forced to under go these practices.
i was thinking twice about that eyes closed, it doesn’t mean to neglect sorry for that, but that’s what i did after reading this… yeah how could i forget that we can do something about it?i’m a nurse myself but not practicing, i know a lot about health teaching.i haven’t had any idea if such practice occurs here in the Philippines so this one’s new to me..thank you for opening my eyes again… i am learning from you 😉
Sadly you are learning horrible things. As soon as this month ends I hope you will see I can write about other things! Be brave and keep well. No need to apologize ever language can be very tricky!! 😉 😀
These are such terrible practices and yet no one seems able to eradicate them. This is as bad as slavery was, if not worse! When will man be what he claims to be: sapiens?
I do not know the answer to that but I do hope they do soon before it is too late. !
Where the hell are such traditions embraced!
Poor she…imagining her had cut me in to two; one crying for her & another disgracing the narrow-minded she’s surrounded by:'(
It is terrible, here are some facts for you http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/key-issues/fgm
There’s a great book on this horrendous subject written by a woman who escaped having it done to her. It’s called “Do They Hear You When You Cry” by Fauziya Kassindja. xx
I honor your bravery in posting this poem showing us the horrors of FGM. We MUST stand up against this travesty against young girls around the world.
I was so terribly shocked by they way the young girls are tricked having FMG how their “Aunts” and mothers can hold their heads up?
Wow, it’s such a hard topic to read about isn’t it? But because it still happens… some of us must. Thank you for this moving piece.
Hello Gaye, thank you for stopping by and reading this poem. Yes it is hard to read and even harder to write about! Yet as you say this is still happening and so we must just go on until it is stopped.
Your poem tells the story of the horror and pain of female genital mutilation. Women are scarred for life physically as well as emotionally and what is so wrong about this s the fact that some people consider it to be necessary to keep a girl pure.. It is going to take some serious education on the ills of FGM for this practice to stop.
Yes you are right people do not want to admit that FGM happens. Governments say they have it under control or the the practice is dying out. This is not true. Young girls are violated like this all over the world Daily.
As you say they are physically and mentally scarred for life. It makes sex painful and hinders child birth. It would be a very different story if it was something men had to endure. We need to make people listen. I know that men do get circumcised but it is nothing like FGM nowhere near as dangerous or painful.
Yes you are right people do not want to admit that FGM happens. Governments say they have it under control or the the practice is dying out. This is not true. Young girls are violated like this all over the world Daily.
As you say they are physically and mentally scarred for life. It makes sex painful and hinders child birth. It would be a very different story if it was something men had to endure. We need to make people listen. I know that men do get circumcised but it is nothing like FGM nowhere near as dangerous or painful.