Wounded Auntie Poem by Ebenezer Ampadu

From the corner of my eye, I see you scorning me

I said nothing, aunty

Need you use your lips?
I know what you think
I am spirit
You demand of me

I wonder only how you changed

Need I respond to that?

Nothing to do, but to tell me why your bed is unmade

Here my story goes:
I was forced into your wild cousin's bed

Is it why you turned bedlam?
Is it why your children are disheveled?
Does this explain the brawl in your house?
The tassel over sleep?

In my beauty and peace
My children lacked nothing, plates full and adored me
Until he —— came.

I am confused
Until who came?

The one who rides the wave
That craftsman forced me to greet death
A thousand stab wounds in my breasts
Standing in the wild one's way, the giant trees of Patagonia were stripped bare of their leaves and hewn the same as I
A tree for my child, my child for a tree
Now my eyes are dim
I see neither tree nor child

Now I understand — say no more, aunty, say no more