Emmanuella Onyilofor (Nigeria, AC 09-11)
Cars at a standstill, the perfect condition
I grab Toks by the hand, he’s only five
The angry suns’ rays blur my seven year old vision
He clings to me tightly, into the traffic we dive.
Toks jerks my arm, toward a shiny black car
We stare into it solemnly, ready to beg and bless
My bare feet scream in pain from the burning hot tar
The rich lady waves us away, like she’s under some stress.
Toks stumbles and falls, I roughly pick him up
I didn’t mean to- but the road is unsafe for a child
Moving to another car, my tattered wrapper begins to drop
A girl sits in there, beautiful, could be my age,
I stare in and almost cry, emotions running wild
Wishing I could own a dress, like her, my heart fills with rage.
- United Words College Magazine -
wow, without being over-dramatic I was almost moved to tears not just because of the beauty and strength of the words but in sad happiness of knowing the hands that wrote them has so developed astonishingly.