She Came to Stay: A Mother's Day Tribute

By Emmanuel Uduak-Obong Esther 

My birth in centuries ago,

They cried, giving me no

Other property than a man,

The world before left me sore.

Giving me out to just anyone,

Without my consent,

No one saw me as a lioness,

They all saw and called my existence bad luck.

In Africa, I was not known,

I was left on the farm with hoes and ridges,

I was left in my husband's house to mourn and die,

As silence was my watchword.

But I carried life within me,

And life does not stay silent,

Life rises,

Today I am the change the world is desperate to see.

My womb is a shelter to all living beings,

I am the mother of all,

I give care to all, even those I know not,

I am a shield and a shelter.

I am as sweet as honey,

I shine brightly like the sun,

I add beauty to the day with my smile,

I am breaking limits now.

Crossing the sky and leaving marks on the sands of time,

I am a mother,

The heartbeat of every generation,

And the world is blessed because I stayed.

So here is my song, my offering, my prayer,

That every mother who stayed be celebrated,

That every sacrifice she made be remembered,

And that the world never forgets what she gave.

By Emmanuel Uduak-Obong Esther