Woman, you belong!!! - by Nomonde Mapasa

Last year, at around August...I asked a very good friend of mine to write about what she thought about women.

Whether African women (in general), we any different from any other woman...
She got so inspired by the challenge...and it took her about six months to write the following poem!
And I love it so much that I asked for her permission to share it with you...I know for sure that you will enjoy this one:

"Woman you belonged to them from birth,
Her that bore you belonged to him that laid with her to conceive you,
It's the same for man at birth 'till they come of age,

For you, woman there is no coming of age to belong to self, you were bred to be his strength and weakness, you were bred to belong to him and be defined by him (as much as you were by your own thoughts) , you are to be him in strength and fault, still you are to cover him where he could not cover himself,

Would this fact make you worthless?
Nay, it's in fact the opposite, you were bred to be worth more than what earth has put forth over countless years,

In his absences you are to be him and survive,
In his absences you are to be him and mould them that were given to you and him,
In his absences you are to be him and you 'till you join him,

Would this fact make you worthless?
Nay, in fact it means you have the strength of thousands of men and it makes you worth more than anything else a man is to find on earth,

Woman you belong to him and still he is to treat you as his equal,
Woman yo belong to him and he to love you with everything he is,
Woman you belong to him and still he is to not hurt one strand on you,
Woman you belong to him and still you are his very heart and without you there is no life,

I believe this was the breed that roamed, they belonged until men had only girls as children and instilled what they would if they had boys, can we blame them?"