Poetry

Sharon Christina Rørvik

By

Abdulrahman M Abu-yaman

Letter to the girl child

Who is a girl child? Is it that

which the dictionary defines as a young

female between the brackets of 0-17? Or

is it what society now describes as

the most vulnerable set of individuals

who are often exposed to

the dangers of child abuse, rape and

molestation? Damn! What a tragedy!

But never to worry, hakuna matata!

For I have come with glad tidings of

good news. Dear girl child, you can

be whatever you want to be. You can

be a queen. Perhaps

like Queen Elizabeth II

whom at a young age received her

coronation to lead her nation

for so many generations. I hope you

roger that information. You can

be a princess. Maybe like Lady Diana

whose character epitomized humanity,

humility, simplicity and gentility despite

her nobility. You can

be a philanthropist, perchance like Oprah

Winfrey, who defied the tragedy of her

childhood of being a victim of abuse

and molestation to becoming a TV

personality and presenter

globally. You can

be a Nobel Prize winner like Malala

Yousafzai who rose like a phoenix

after receiving a bullet, to overcome

her coma and trauma despite the

drama; to be an educational activist

for the girl child. And remember

that you are future mothers, so

don’t forget to emulate the traits and

attributes of Mother Theresa whose

name has become synonymous to

love, care and affection.

Dear girl child, be careful when picking

your role models, because once upon

a time, Hannah Montana was once idolized

and glamourized in the teenage world but

fell from grace to grass when she

revealed her true colour as Miley Cyrus.

Dear girl child, do not oppress one another,

because I once heard the tale of a girl

named Mara, who was a subject of

constant abuse by her “father” and made

a caricature of mockery by her “friend”

Clara.

Dear girl child, do not be afraid to

take responsibilities, because I have a

“black” friend called Sasha who leaves in a

“White” house and was not ashamed to

drop her status as a VIP in order to get

a J-O-B in the USA, I hope that information

is clear to Y-O-U.

Dear girl child, in the quest for the

holy grail, do not play it rough and

tough to get stuff, because that way, you

will never have enough. But rather be careful,

cool, calm and collected. Because you are

a lady; not Gaga!

So dear girl child, be your humble selves and

bear you beautiful names. Am speaking

to all the girl child around the world–

Senorita, Margarita, can you hear me?

Juliet, Elizabeth, can you hear me?

Farida, Rashida, can you hear me?

Ngozi, Yetunde, can you hear me?

Abdulrahman M Abu-yaman

Abdulrahman M Abu-yaman is a Nigerian poet born in the western part of the country (Tin-can island, Lagos), occasionally visiting the south (Warri) despite being from the north where he currently lives (Minna). He majored in Economics at IBB University, Lapai, Niger State, loves to draw in pencil monochrome. His works have appeared in Kalahari Reviews, Elsielsy blog and forthcoming in Lunaris Review and Black Boy Review. You can follow him on Twitter @abuu_yaman.