An Agile Death Poem by Mohamedkhadar Yussuf

She was aware of her daughter’s peculiar behaviour of
Using her mobile phone till late night,
At times till dawn,
She could see her often moving away from people when her
Phone rings and locking herself in her room,
This was followed by endless unfamiliar visits to the town,
At times arriving late at night with fake excuses
Oh, poor mum, If only she knew her daughter’s doings behind the scene!

Four months later she is greeted by the size of her daughter’s stomach
Prompting her to go back to herself and analyse her daughter’s
Recent behaviour
Alas! It is too late! Someone lured her daughter into unlawful intimacy
And there in her stomach is a baby, a baby whose father is unknown

The whole family now became the centre of every conversation
In the neighbourhood, portraying her daughter as evil
What would she do? Run away? Disown her daughter? Kill her?
Blame her husband for buying their daughter a mobile phone?
Blame herself for not restricting her daughter’s use of the gadget?

Too many questions, no satisfying answers.
Not able to withstand by her neighbours’ gossips,
She started cursing her daughter silently.
Not knowing where to go to, she started wandering in the house.
Not knowing what to do, she wept silently in agony.
Not knowing whose shoulders to lean on, she locked herself in the kitchen
And cried towards the knife on the table, cried towards emptiness,
Towards her agile death!