The kids look up to me for protection
Their eyes teary
A feeling of foreboding feels this grass thatched hut
From a distance I hear the scream of a man
My husband, yapping way in the village’s water hall
The kids shudder with fear
Is that daddy? Is he coming home momma?
I give a firmer grip to their bonny bodies
My mind in a race
Is he coming home?
I look at my hands, bruises from his beatings last night
My body aches
My heart aches
My back aches from tilling the land
What a life? What a man?
Is there a better day for me?
Can someone hear my silent cry?
May be it's time to leave…to leave?
Can I manage on my own?
But am I not on my own now?
I wake their kids, some lost in their dreams
We must leave, yes, leave
Walking out of that door I shed a tear
Not for sorrow, but loss, loss of all that I have built in this home
But I must leave, leave or he will kill me
As the rain starts to fall
The start of the new season
I look out into the horizons
It’s a new season in me
It’s a new beginning
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