A Place Poem by Oni Lasana


There is a place of bloodstained ground

Razor blade...passed around

A far off place where cultures share

Secret torments...young girls must bear



A place that opens between her legs...

Torn...bleeds...burns...enraged

A place where girls are cut...
for men to care

Only a husband tries to get in there



This place is pleasure to woman who live free

So special...I wish they could be me

A place so tender..gentle...a loving nerve

Not to be disfigured...violently disturbed



Not for slicing...like meat or bread

Tortured in pain...left alone for dead

This place is closed off...to prolong virginity

Vulva sown shut...in love vicinity



A place castrated...without choice or anesthetic

Traditional practices so common...so pathetic

A place where being female
Is to be mutilated & controlled

Infections...disease...blocking monthly toll


Sunna or pharaonic...both are moronic


In 28 countries this abuse is a 'custom'

A place a girl-child can never run from

Some may flee...take the risk

Many suffer-in-pain...exist



Woman treated as sexual beast...

Men never know true love release

Wedding nights screams of torment are heard...

No one dares say a word



Western sistah's are safe...in our place

On this side of earth...it was not a choice

Do we hear her cries? ...do we hear her voice?

Permanently damaged...physically...mentally... emotionally too

What can we say...to help her through? 
 What can we do?

A secret place...where her spirit will die

I know her voice...I hear her cry

Only natural women know why.




(c) 1998 real tales by oni lasana



Organization to support; Godparents, Inc. 'Prisoners of Ritual' by Hanny Lightfoot-Klein isbn#0-918393-68-x