Questions With No Question Mark. Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

What would it be like
To hear her voice call you
With cruelty ringing aloud
Yelling to intimidate you
Amidst crowds that look at you.?

What would it be like to wake
To beatings and hear her calling
You names, and giving you looks
That kill, and be acknowledged
For nothing at the age of five?

What would it be like to work,
And not be paid, be seen and
Not heard, and lie down finally
At the end of the day crying,
Only to be shouted at and told
To not cry?

What would it be like to hear your
Own mother in the distance crying,
Being beaten by a sick man, and hear
All those around you laughing, as
If they were watching a movie that
Is ongoing daily in their minds
And just be unable to do anything,
But watch the flames of a fire,
And sob quietly for you do not
Want those who are laughing to
Know the pain you feel, as it
Moves from the woman's body,
Into your psyche in the space,
In between the two homesteads,
The way life moves today on
Cyberspace.