Celebrating #WorldPoetryDay @ Spears Media with Lola Perpetua Nkamanyang
The Language of Breasts and Beards
(From Poetry book collection, Healing Stings, 2016)
Pepertua K. N. LOLA
It doesn’t matter
Whether beards, whether breasts
Equality we seek
Equal access for all.
It doesn’t matter
Whether trousers, whether skirts
Liberation we seek
Equal access for all.
It doesn’t matter
Whether office, whether home
The tempests abating
Boundaries are banished.
It doesn’t matter
Whether cripples, whether dwarfs
The whirlwind waning
Mountains are dwindling.
It doesn’t matter
Whether hills or foothills
The barb wires battered
Our share is assured.
It doesn’t matter
Whether hovering or cowering
The seas are now calm
Caged voices sour high.
It doesn’t matter
Whether standing or squatting
On the decision table
Her voice is now heard.
It doesn’t matter
Whether crawling or crouching
On the dining table
Thirty percent is allocated.
On the dining table, thirty percent is allocated.
It doesn’t matter, whether breasts, whether beards,
Although for cultural carvers breasts and beards are visible signs,
For instruments and policy, knowledge and access empower like power.
