Beyond Her Gender (For All Women) Poem by Babatunde Idowu Ebenezer

Bring a bowl of water and a piece of towel,
To wash away the powder so as to reveal the sweat,
Under the layers of makeup and gloss.
Get a wet handkerchief to wipe out the mascara,
And bring to fore the scars under the piles of colored mask.

She enters the room with a smile and lights up the faces of all,
Oh the fire in her eyes and the sun in her smile!
The moon in her mouth so radiant and glowing!
But what nobody knows is the travails of her inner mind!

She opens her mouth to sing in praise and worship,
Hands are lifted high and hearts are opened wide,
Heads are bowed low and heavens come down to join the earth,
Right there under the power of her high pitch soprano,
But what nobody sees are the scares that disfigure her innermost heart.

Behind her feminine identity of humility and weakness,
Lays a spirit so solid and yet so fragile,
A soul so complex to understand,
An inner mystery untouchable,
Like a mirage on a highway.
A difficult maze in an ancient cave.

Under the bright rays of the sun she waits anxiously,
Her back to the noises in the streets, oblivious to their existence,
Right there in front of the school's big metal gates,
Expectantly waiting for the ringing of the school bell,
And the cackling of happy school children,
There she waits to take them back home.

Anxiously she waits, hands folded across her bosoms,
Frozen to the spot like a statue of bronze,
Watching the hands of clock as they crawl in circle,
Like three straight earthworms on a cyclic mission
Waiting for the arrival of the man she loves,
To take him back into her caring arms,
After his long hectic day of hustling and surviving.

There she stands on the horizon,
The burden of her home on her shoulders,
Yet she strives to become relevant,
In a society that gives her no chance to be relevant.
An epitome of hope in a hopeless society,
A soul so inspiring and motivating,
A bridge across troubled waters of troubled world.

Early in the morning you hear her voice before dawn,
Clear on their way to heavens along with her petitions,
Late in the afternoon you hear her voice among the noises,
Loud and clear in rebuke and warning to her children,
Yet late in the night you don't hear her whispers,
Saying with passion the words 'you can't give up now'
To the eager ears of the man she so adores.

Oh, how blessed you are woman,
For your life is a blessing to all around you,
Far beyond your gender of gentility,
You are a mystery concealed forever in the ocean of yourself!