Good grief girl
What are you doing
What are you saying
What did you expect
Your wiles are unkempt and all showing
This is not what’s required of your sex
You are lacking in decorum
You are devoid of grace
There is a distinct air of derision
Writ, quite blatant all over your face
There is filth in your mouth
And the cut of your eye
Demonstrates well that someone
Will at sometime
Reduce you to a place
That will reign you right in
Your errant and bold ways
The wrath of your kin
Will keep falling on deaf ears
And nobody cares
About recalcitrant brown girls
And it’s not till they dare
To throw off the protocols
Stand up all alone
Reclaim what is left of her self
Now she’s grown
Out of the playsuit
And in her own right
Stake out her claim in the dawn and twilight.
– Nonika Hendrickse Vagliviello
– Brian Dicks (photograph)
Earthlings Magazine 