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Words Will Cost You Your Life
By Opal Palmer Adisa
i knew when i was
only four years old
that sticks and stones
will break your bones
and words can and will
destroy you
make you feel so awful
you cannot offer a rejoinder
against the attack that you
are nothing but a little
black girl
a little black girl
who rolled words around
in her mouth
moisturized them with saliva
stretched them by shouting them
above the head of coconut tree
fortified them in the yam and cassava
she ate
words were self-esteem
words were self-determination
words were to praise a people
who have been negatively defined
and whose boundaries have been delineate
by others determined to limit their growth
words were her ammunition
words were their independence
so when Ibn al-Dheeb
wrote “Tunisian Jasmine”
on January 2011
he too knew the power
and magic of words
he too was expressing
self-determination
seeking sovereignty
for himself and his people
oppressed by Qatar’s ruling family
words can and have condemned
Ibn al-Dheeb to a life sentence
poets and writers are not safe
we are often seen as the enemy
when we use words to sniff out the truth
when we use words to highlight disparity
when we use words as salve and balm
when we use words as shovels
that dig up and expose the bodies buried
words hurt more than any stick or stone
words start revolutions
and usher in change
words are sirius brightening the path
for transformation
Inspired by petition to free Ibn al-Dheeb, sentenced to death, that was circulated on the Internet.
The Choice of Life
By Opal Palmer Adisa
hunger has never stalked me
so i will not judge
but i am mother to two daughters
aunt to almost a dozen nieces
play-aunt to countless girls
friends of my daughters
most of my students are girls
and i live in and outside
my memory of being a fearless girl
given freedom to run/climb/go on hikes/
swim/left alone to explore my mind/
granted space and time to choose
to choose
to choose
to choose
but i’ve never known hunger
hunger was never present in my
community
so i’ll not judge
i point finger at a system
that allows the vast majority
of the world to live intimately
with hunger
hunger is their daily bread and breath
and every decision they make is mitigated
to keep hunger at bay
is a pact with hunger
and i wish i could say unflinchingly
if faced with a similar circumstance
i would not choose the old man to feed us
and marry the girl who is my daughter
who might die otherwise
would i suffer her selfhood
for food and water?
or would i rather her alive
and wed her to the abusive old farmer
than have her risk death
to choose love?
i’m mother to two daughters
who were always free to be
whomever and whatever
they have never known hunger
and never will
i cannot imagine nor would not wish
them married at twelve
but we’ve always been fortunate
not so for 48% of south Sudanese girls
between 15 and 19 years old
many married as young as 12 twelve
to put food on their families’ tables
and who am i to judge until
i’m willing to help them plant
and eradicate their oppression
by building schools and drilling wells
Inspired by Human Rights Watch report: “South Sudan End Widespread Child Marriage.”
Stop Killing Your Mother
By Opal Palmer Adisa
the thing about slavery
is that all of us are enslaved
the one with shackles on
his wrist becomes the one
who punches his wife
who in turn becomes the one
who beats and berates her child
who in turn becomes the one
who bullies his school mate
who in turn becomes the one
who robs us at gun point
who in turn becomes
the jailer and enforcer
who becomes…
an endless cycle
you see my point
the only way to stop this
is to stop this
is to accept that we
are all victims and perpetrators
we have all been hurt
have been nursing our wounds
seeking ways to feel powerful
and those we perceive as weaker
those who have less voice
always become the next victims
in a system that is warped
where money and gender
capitalism and patriarchy
binary and hierarchy
are normalized
when you break your wife’s ribs
when you bruise your daughter’s face
when you crack your aunt’s tooth
when you fuck your ten year old niece
you are an enslaver
doesn’t matter than you can’t find work
doesn’t matter than you are fed up and tired
doesn’t matter than someone called you ugly and lazy
doesn’t matter than you cannot get it up
with your wife
you are an enslaver
every time you dishonor
any woman or girl
you are killing your mother
and what then does it say
about the possibility of our future
Opal Palmer Adisa, Jamaican born, is a writer, cultural activist, photographer and curator. The author of 14 books, plus articles, poems and stories in over five hundred journals, magazines and anthologies, Adisa writes about children, parenting, the environment, and Caribbean/African culture. She is the editor of The Caribbean Writer, Ayiti/Haiti, Volume 25, the only translated 636-page volume dedicated to Haiti.
Her forth-coming books are, 4-Headed Woman, poetry collection, October 2013 and Love’s Promise, a short story collection.
She lives between St Croix, VI and California, USA. For more information visit: www.opalpalmeradisa.com
By Opal Palmer Adisa
i knew when i was
only four years old
that sticks and stones
will break your bones
and words can and will
destroy you
make you feel so awful
you cannot offer a rejoinder
against the attack that you
are nothing but a little
black girl
a little black girl
who rolled words around
in her mouth
moisturized them with saliva
stretched them by shouting them
above the head of coconut tree
fortified them in the yam and cassava
she ate
words were self-esteem
words were self-determination
words were to praise a people
who have been negatively defined
and whose boundaries have been delineate
by others determined to limit their growth
words were her ammunition
words were their independence
so when Ibn al-Dheeb
wrote “Tunisian Jasmine”
on January 2011
he too knew the power
and magic of words
he too was expressing
self-determination
seeking sovereignty
for himself and his people
oppressed by Qatar’s ruling family
words can and have condemned
Ibn al-Dheeb to a life sentence
poets and writers are not safe
we are often seen as the enemy
when we use words to sniff out the truth
when we use words to highlight disparity
when we use words as salve and balm
when we use words as shovels
that dig up and expose the bodies buried
words hurt more than any stick or stone
words start revolutions
and usher in change
words are sirius brightening the path
for transformation
Inspired by petition to free Ibn al-Dheeb, sentenced to death, that was circulated on the Internet.
The Choice of Life
By Opal Palmer Adisa
hunger has never stalked me
so i will not judge
but i am mother to two daughters
aunt to almost a dozen nieces
play-aunt to countless girls
friends of my daughters
most of my students are girls
and i live in and outside
my memory of being a fearless girl
given freedom to run/climb/go on hikes/
swim/left alone to explore my mind/
granted space and time to choose
to choose
to choose
to choose
but i’ve never known hunger
hunger was never present in my
community
so i’ll not judge
i point finger at a system
that allows the vast majority
of the world to live intimately
with hunger
hunger is their daily bread and breath
and every decision they make is mitigated
to keep hunger at bay
is a pact with hunger
and i wish i could say unflinchingly
if faced with a similar circumstance
i would not choose the old man to feed us
and marry the girl who is my daughter
who might die otherwise
would i suffer her selfhood
for food and water?
or would i rather her alive
and wed her to the abusive old farmer
than have her risk death
to choose love?
i’m mother to two daughters
who were always free to be
whomever and whatever
they have never known hunger
and never will
i cannot imagine nor would not wish
them married at twelve
but we’ve always been fortunate
not so for 48% of south Sudanese girls
between 15 and 19 years old
many married as young as 12 twelve
to put food on their families’ tables
and who am i to judge until
i’m willing to help them plant
and eradicate their oppression
by building schools and drilling wells
Inspired by Human Rights Watch report: “South Sudan End Widespread Child Marriage.”
Stop Killing Your Mother
By Opal Palmer Adisa
the thing about slavery
is that all of us are enslaved
the one with shackles on
his wrist becomes the one
who punches his wife
who in turn becomes the one
who beats and berates her child
who in turn becomes the one
who bullies his school mate
who in turn becomes the one
who robs us at gun point
who in turn becomes
the jailer and enforcer
who becomes…
an endless cycle
you see my point
the only way to stop this
is to stop this
is to accept that we
are all victims and perpetrators
we have all been hurt
have been nursing our wounds
seeking ways to feel powerful
and those we perceive as weaker
those who have less voice
always become the next victims
in a system that is warped
where money and gender
capitalism and patriarchy
binary and hierarchy
are normalized
when you break your wife’s ribs
when you bruise your daughter’s face
when you crack your aunt’s tooth
when you fuck your ten year old niece
you are an enslaver
doesn’t matter than you can’t find work
doesn’t matter than you are fed up and tired
doesn’t matter than someone called you ugly and lazy
doesn’t matter than you cannot get it up
with your wife
you are an enslaver
every time you dishonor
any woman or girl
you are killing your mother
and what then does it say
about the possibility of our future
Opal Palmer Adisa, Jamaican born, is a writer, cultural activist, photographer and curator. The author of 14 books, plus articles, poems and stories in over five hundred journals, magazines and anthologies, Adisa writes about children, parenting, the environment, and Caribbean/African culture. She is the editor of The Caribbean Writer, Ayiti/Haiti, Volume 25, the only translated 636-page volume dedicated to Haiti.
Her forth-coming books are, 4-Headed Woman, poetry collection, October 2013 and Love’s Promise, a short story collection.
She lives between St Croix, VI and California, USA. For more information visit: www.opalpalmeradisa.com