A bane of our existence
Ntombivuyo Zoe Mhlongo 2004 (South Africa)
A bane of our existence
A bane of our existence
A fate sealed
They simply said “it’s done, this is it”
Now we remain with the painful eagerness of our unfed hope and struggling against the perception of what has been decided.
We have been born into a world that has normalised discrimination
Our poisoned minds have gotten used to it, even though our hearts ache
They say it is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate is required to bear
Now we fold our tails and wait for them to reregister their wrongs, which seems like an impossible dream
They say we are all equal but yet an everyday sexism still pervades our world view, it twists, distorts and skews everything we do
Those deft discriminations and the gap overpay, the abuse and harassment that won’t go away
I wish people would open hearts
Perhaps them hearing the sound of a woman saying “I have never known what it is like to have my heart flutter at the simple sound of hearing that we are enough , we are regarded as strong” can make them notice our cries.
Opportunities are granted not to everyone, but to those who are said to be entitled to it
What has the world come to?
Are these perhaps the signs of an Armageddon?
Extreme talent is not the key, gender, masculinity, being accepted is
You play because you love it, the women in sport don’t get enough support
The men play and get money
Yet women’s cases look less sunny
And it seems like they are the last resort
They don’t get paid
And that’s not fair
They both skate on a blade and work hard.
A Bane of our existence
They said this is it ; it’s done
I guess the pain has been tattooed on our fate
And shall forever haunt us
For as long as we all shall live
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Written on November 19, 2022
Submitted by mhlongontombivuyozoe on November 18, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:44 min read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | A Axbxcx dx exxxbecxfggfxdxAcxxx |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,740 |
Words | 349 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 2, 20 |
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"A bane of our existence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/145454/a-bane-of-our-existence>.
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