CYCLE OF VIOLENCE by Osowe Gbenga

I was thinking about Domestic Violence and how it continues in a cycle (men who grew up to see their fathers beat their mothers are less likely to see anything wrong in beating women etc) and the thoughts brought this poem titled CYCLE.

CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

I have chosen to speak

to lend the world my words 

and let my voice be heard

loud and clear

Against the violence of silence

perpetrated against the ones we ought to hold so dear

causing them so much bodily and mental harm.

I sound the alarm, 

that the cycles might be strengthened no longer

that our females may suffer no more

and that our wives and daughters may weep no more.

I choose to speak,

at the plight of children who witness their mothers being beaten and battered,

watching as her cloth is shred into tatters.

As she  is stripped of her dignity and humanity

By the same man who once claimed to love her,

swearing an oath to honour and protect her.

But,

Now, his fist is her face's unworthy yet willing companion daily.

She sheds tears, 

losing blood

not for man's ransom nor eucharistic communion.

She shed her blood, 

her life,

dying in bits,

cowering and pleading, 

while he beats her.

and she stays silent.

A victim,

and a  perpetrator of the violence of silence

She stays,

keeping mute and enduring

for the sake of her 

Son,

who now believes that  the answer 

to every female's daring questions and smart retort is a punch

and a kick.

Daily, his fragile human mind is being transformed

to that of a savage,

who thinks that the body of a woman is meant to be ravaged.

A victim of the vicious cycle

So for him I speak, 

and for the sake of his younger sister,

in whose mind is etched the imagery of her father's savagery.

She hates men with a passion,

her life a lesson in delusions.

The words of her mother fill her ears,

"Men are bad,

they are the spawns of the devil

and in them is the seed of evil."

She knows not, 

that not all men are brutes. 

Even if to many you dare not ascribe the word cute.

She is a victim,

caught in the cycle strengthened by our silence.

And so for her I speak

against RAPE, domestic abuse and sexual harassment.

And I say

break this cycle

and STOP THE VIOLENCE NOW!

by 

Osowe Gbenga

Word Up, the biggest Spoken Word Poetry Platform in Nigeria comes to town again this November 2013.

This edition tagged, WORD UP Volume 6 is scheduled for November 23, 2013 at Terra Kulture, V/Island, Lagos, with the theme, "Stop the violence." 

The event theme is centered around the United Nation’s “International day for the elimination of violence against women.”  

Some of the best Spoken Word Poets in Nigeria that will grace the stage are: 

Plumbline, Torpedo, RezThaPoet, Bob Ekat, Princeps, Chinelo Renee,

Dolapo, Donna K, Atilola, Titilayo Mabogunje, Shola Oguntoyinbo, Arch Angel ,

Soonest, Increase and many more.....!!!

Soul Music will be by Pure Child, Aduke and Lumynos

Celebrity Poet: The King of Comedy in Nigeria, ALI BABA and YEANCHA ADAMU (Soundcity)