WE WILL NOT BE CIRCUMCISED

WE WILL NOT BE CIRCUMCISED

We will not be circumcised;
For as long as I can remember,
We have been undermined,
Disenfranchised and paralysed.
We have been stigmatised,
Brutalised and quite frankly sodomised.

We will not be circumcised;
For a very long time,
You have held us at gun point,
Eagerly pressing the finger joint of the trigger
So that you have our guts splattering all over like dropped coins.
You have called us names,
Names that are devoid of praise;
Musiru gwe,
You say.
You have called us lazy, crazy
And rumour mongering chimpanzees.
You have riddled us with shame,
Showered us with blame
And stripped us of our manes.

We will not be circumcised,
You have broken our hearts,
Spit on the creative arts,
Stolen our body parts,
Showed us death charts
And soiled our breakfast.

But we will not be circumcised;
For our greatness lies
In our identity.
In what we see, what is before our eyes.
What is in our spirits, souls, hearts and minds,
And not what is between our thighs.

We will not be circumcised;
For our minds are awoken to the path of the token,
Our spirits may be unhinged but they are not broken.
Our chins are chiseled  
But are firmly lifted high up into the sky.
Our countenance is steadfast and will never die;
We hold our confidence with pride.

We will not be circumcised;
You will have to attend the ritual cleansing alone
Because our fortitude,
Our minds and our foreskins are set to remain on
And strong!!!

A poem by Bruno Edgard