Death knell and my fate is sealed
A dead father
A mother drowned in tears
An aeroplane of adventure, foreign smells invade my centre-England!!!!
I came from good stock, I was friend to all
I came from grandeur and settled contentment
My family name known in those parts
Then I had to start, again
At first the anonymity was enjoyable
I was just any other girl
But my accent was funny
My naivety laughable
Then one by one I was an outcast to them all
The smelly African girl.
I was not beaten with fists, their blows were much worse
I was torn with disdain and contempt
Words battered my cheeks
Insults kicked my shins
I cried within but came out fighting
Once happy girl, now cold, dark, bitter
Poetry was a gift, a reward
My adventure into wonderland was ended
I ached for the world I had always known.
Author notes
This is about my emigration from Nigeria to England when I was 12. I came from a happy place where I was loved to a place where I was villified by ignorant fools.
A contest entry
- Diaspora by SamiJ.
450 points, ended July 23, 2007, 8 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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a moving poem ...
your words were so sad and yet needed to be shared with all as a lesson for compassion. It is never easy to move to another place, away from the usual, and people can be so cruel in their judgements of those not like them. I'm glad that you were strong and made it through! joy
Congrats on the Gold! joy
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