Education Needed
Nyandavoh Foday
When a classroom talks,
It’s like a babbling brook,
And the indifference for the teacher’s efforts
Sounds bubbly, but slowly threatens to drown me-
Because when I hear our disregard for education
I see the children of another nation,
I see the 12 year old girl
Who can’t be a doctor,
Because her father and mother have already sold her off to another,
So her future was taken from her.
She weaves a net of dreams
But there are too many holds to catch someone’s eye
She doesn’t understand why
Her birthplace leaves her faced
With the rough embrace of an older man she’s never met
Her family can’t eat, yet
And this exchange of girl for life
Is a gift wrapped in paper of dead ends
Her parents remind themselves
That an unhappy daughter is better than a dead one.
So they sign the contract,
Draw the dotted line through their little girl’s dreams
With an unavoidable certainty
That left no breath in their lungs.
So when I see that little girl,
When I think of her family
And the people that surround me
Are blatantly ignoring their education
And I see that other nation
I feel a build-up of frustration-
Then I let it go,
I face the front
I sigh
I learn
They won’t.