Bride Price Poem by Jonathan Tafreg

No wrong is done to one who consents,
The worst comes when you fail to confess,
For the things that one can't express,
And for the problems one can't address.

Love! True love as we know it,
Intimate, casual just name it,
Whether from the liberal or extremist,
But it can kill you if you believe it.

Let me tell you one, just this one story,
If you'll like it good, if you'll hate it I'm sorry,
It's boring but I insist do not worry,
It's about some bride prices and dowry.

Any property or money for the marriage,
Calls for modern enslavement don't encourage,
You tribal societies scarce of knowledge,
Why giving bridegrooms such a luggage?

If marriage is biblical, why should I pay?
If is historical, why till this day?
Or is it magical, lesbians and gay?
If love is technical, can a blind fool stay?

Women are part and parcel of men,
If we buy them we treat them like hen,
And we sign on some papers with pen,
Then we call them our wives, since when?

And we claim to be telling the world,
While we let our daughters being sold,
With our own greediness we are told,
We act like children while we are old.

I suggest that we reach a conclusion,
Giving gifts will sound a solution,
Or we say bride price is an option,
But we can't make marriage an auction.