THE HELPLESS GIRL

There was a faraway stream
Five kilometers away from home in our village.
Every neighborhood goes there,
In search of drinkable water.
I could remember my mother telling me
to let go and fetch water from the River.

I was five years old,
With little knowledge of my mother’s plan.
The sound of my mother’s voice
we should wait for others
Joined by two other women.
Their greetings echo.

I was told to lie down
Like a lamb to be slaughter
Ascertaining my virginity.
My hands were held
The other woman pierced my clitoris
with a needle and cut off with an ordinary blade.

I wailed at my vulnerability
The excruciating pain from the cut
Lingers in my memory
Strictly warned never to tell a soul.

There were no painkillers
Other than the bubbles of the stream
the chirping of birds
To lessen the pains
That has engulfed my whole body.

It was a pain that lasted for some weeks.
My marriage was set at the early age of twenty-one.
It The pains I felt pain when having sexual intercourse with my husband.
It’s a painful night’s meal.

I gave birth to three children
Each birth was very difficult due to the scars.
The trauma I sustained during the genital mutilation.

There’s nothing good about it
It is a scar from my childhood
That moves into my adulthood
Though it is long gone
But the unending pain,
The trauma,
The infections, and heartbreak.
“This must Stop”

The diary of a helpless little girl.