Journey and a half - Freedom T.V. Nyamubaya

Have you ever been ordered to strip
In front of a thousand shouting eyes
Forced to lie on your back
With your feet astride
Allowing your vagina to be inspected
By somebody whom you’ve never seen before?

Imagine lying on your back
On an empty stomach
On top of angry biting ants
On hot dry African sand
And asked to imitate love-making

Have you ever stayed awake
Thousands of thoughts in one night
Crying out loudly without a voice?

Asked to bark like a wild dog
Or laugh like a hyena
Beaten on your buttocks until they
Turned to red meat?

“The truth from a comrade comes from the buttocks!”
A famous interrogation slogan
It happened in the liberation camp prisons

We have come a long way
And we still have a journey and half
to cover

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Freedom T.V. Nyamubaya (1960–2015) Zimbabwe

Source: Poetry International