Ashanti OMkar is a journalist, poet, presenter, singer and overall media person based in London. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Nigeria she spent her teens in the UK and later graduated from The University of London. She left behind a flourishing IT career, having worked for the likes of Oracle, Business Objects and Pepsi Cola, for the exciting world of entertainment. To find out more aswell as listen to her new radio show, South Side visit her website http://www.omkari.net.
You shiver, you shudder
Threading on eggshells becomes
Your very existence
Depression grips you
He’s beaten out the talent
Your joie de vivre
The man you once loved
With all your might
Has assaulted you
Insulted you, controlled you
Broken your spirit
Do you run? Do you hide?
What will society say?
That’s the only thing that runs
Through your very fragile mind
Will I manage on my own?
Will he hunt me down?
His frequents threats to kill you
No-one else can have you except me
He barks menacingly
I’ll kill any female child you have
With my bear hands, he shouts brutally
The beatings are indiscriminate
Why could they be?
Over fact that there’s no fresh chicken
Or that you’re too ill to cook
That you laughed with a friend
On the phone
You earn more than him
Or couldn’t buy that new mobile phone
He’s been brought up to think
It’s OK to beat his wife
His Parents, his family
They don’t see this as wrong
It’s been expected as very manly
Of him to show who’s boss
This is an educated woman’s dilemma
As it is for one who’s illiterate
It’s a dilemma of the world
That is brushed behind closed doors
The reality is hidden
To protect the perpetrators
Your side is not seen
By your people, your family
Who should support you
He may cry innocence
But only you know
The price of being a good wife
But they choose to do nothing
They choose to ignore
The pleas that emanate
From your tear stained eyes
They silently watch
As you put on an act and smile
But how many chances can you give
When does the time come?
When does that innate switch
Flick in your brain
He’s damaged your soul
Or so you feel
He thinks he’s destroyed you
But aren’t you stronger than that?
Does he deserve death?
Do you deserve death?
Should he be taught a lesson?
Or never be allowed to roam free
How many lives is he willing to destroy?
From a moral standpoint
What will you choose?
To escape forever with dignity
Or teach him forever a fatal lesson
And face the consequences?
