Nwanyi Ka Nwoke (Her Strength Mounts) Poem by Tony Cemaluk

They said Nwanyi can't do this,
Can't eat that,
Can't own this,
an't mount that.

They said wilderness swallows Nwanyi.
They lied.
To weaken the weak in heart.
Not Nwanyi Ka Nwoke.

But she showed,
She debunked those lies,
Those limitations limiting Nwanyi.

She carried provision store on her head,
To the garage.
She became father and mother,
When father became memory.
She kept hearth burning,
When elders counted ashes.
She beat not to wound,
But to weld.

We now know:
Nwanyi Ka Nwoke.

Not in muscle,
Not by mouth.
In deeds.
In marching when marching was impossible.
In dominating Nwoke in deeds.

She did not survive widowhood,
She defeated it.
Turned its wilderness
To mountain with fountain.

- Tony Cemaluk Egbuonu