In this village I live it

I swallow my pills

Climb down from my throne

Bury the crown

 

In this village I live in

I don’t take sides

 

I trade in what I really think

For all the more approved of things

 

Toss me a coin

And I’ll do a little dance

 

My mother screamed

The day I cut my hair

 

My boyfriend left

When I told him

I didn’t like sex

 

My kid cousin asked me

Why I haven’t made babies

 

In this village I live in

There is no room to laugh

 

We giggle discreetly

In our capsules of glass

 

In this village I live in

You follow the rules

 

Look pretty

Sound smart

Smell sweet

Keep clean

 

We smile at our neighbours

But would rather crumple their children,

And drink their blood

Trash their crowns

And gobble their hearts

 

The old ones hover like the holy ghost

Tossing their wisdom, like golden prose

The young ones pretend to talk like poets

Drinking cheap wine and getting horny

 

The old ones are up their own arses

The young ones are sniffing everyone elses

 

But in this village I live in, I don’t take sides

I trade in my sex, my sins, the colour of my skin

For all the more approved of things

 

Copyright® Michele Koh Morollo 2006