Mother And Daughter Poem by Mary Krekamoo

A mother and daughter set out to farm
In a bag mother carried maize seeds and yams,
The morning breeze was far from warm,
Their patches of clothes worn and torn,
So slowly they walked along a narrow path filled with thorns.
Guided by a haze of moonlight patterns.

The daughter Anna scratched and yawned,
Scratching out the poorness of her home,
And the insects that had bitten her the night before,
She yawned for the tiredness of her bones
And the emptiness of her womb.

But step by step they kept on;
Step by step before the breaking of dawn;
Mile by mile towards the farm of their own.

The mother.
The mother thought of all the loans,
And all the troubles she had going,
She thought of all the rise and falls,
The rain that never falls,
The sun that was always close,
The famine and starvation that is now a doze.
And like the breeze through her clothes
She felt cold and alone
Left to bear the load on her own.
Lost in her thoughts she didn't see the stone.
She stumbled and fell down.
Merciless ground with its thorns piercing her gown,
She felt the pain numbing her down
And all the strength within was vanished.
Tears streamed like rain gullies,
Tainting her pale face like contours,
Her mouth opened to scream in horror
But only a squeak and moan was heard in terror
She bent her head in surrender
And slightly cursed the creator
For creating her an African mother.
Anna only a step closer
Heard the moan and thud from her mother
She knelt to the ground
Turned her mother around, helped her stand from the ground,
Nothing was said aloud
Only pole …. Tujage lolo as they walked away together.

Anna
Morning sun was in horizon,
When they reached their farm
Thud, thud they dug in unison,
And thud, thud Anna's head was flooded with questions,
Questions about dreams and traditions
Traditions that held her dreams in strong ties
Traditions that swayed her life in wrong tides,
Making her dreams look like fairy tales.
She thought of the school she loved
And the planned marriage she loathed
She knew her fate was closed
And hoped that dreams were worth.
Thud, thud she broke the ground
And thought maybe as she break the ground beneath
The traditions will break too
Maybe her dreams will become true
Thud thud she said a prayer too.