We wanted to be doctors and teachers
We wanted to escape the claws of poverty
The men in their crispy suits seduced us into their scheme,
and the sad thing was, we believed in them

Gullible
We did not understand that word
The men in grimy clothes,
seated in the corner of the dingy room, spoke of this word
They chortled raucously, baring yellow, crooked teeth
We stood in the center of the room, our bodies naked

We shivered not in cold but in fear
Our trembling hands run rampantly across our bodies,
hiding our womanly parts
The men gulped from their beers
and blew rings of smoke into the air.
They leered at us with half-hooded, bloodshot, eyes
and rubbed their crotches languidly

Some of us cried, tears dampening our cheeks
and some just kept quiet, hearts hammering inside our chests
One of the inebriated men staggered to his feet
He swayed to us, the pungent stench of alcohol
and body odor wafted under our nostrils
He circled us, him the predator and us the prey

The plumes of smoke he exhaled
stung our eyes and elicited spluttering coughs
His rough hands touched us,
trailing down the contours of our nude bodies
The man whistled,
a sly smile tugging at the corners of his mouth
He beckoned the other men with a nod of his head

Chairs scraped the marred tiled floor as the men stood up
They stumbled to us, with grins on their dirty faces
The mens’ shadows crept onto our skins, eclipsing our future