I am from a place where growth

Is not an option

It is only fiction and so

You remain in one place

 

A place where they will love you

And laugh with you

So long as you are nothing

Where witchcraft comes into play dare you try and become something

 

I’m from a place where you dread to pass the corner

Afraid of the negative and degrading comments from boys gathered for the sole purpose

of tormenting girls passing by

 

I am from a place filled

with possibilities and probabilities

Yet it is pointless because everyone is mindless

 

A place where marriage is an accomplishment as a young woman

A place where being 27 with two fatherless children is normal and so I’m right on track

 

A place where most girls have their first child before completing matric.

And if you don’t complete

Your matric really it’s not a big deal

 

I’m from a place where

A 12 year old can twerk

And that is a perk

A place where clubs are filled with teenagers

majority under 18

Who can dance the night away

But fail to construct a single

English sentence

 

A place where you can find out about the latest songs

and learn the latest dance moves from five-year-olds who cannot count up to five