Women’s Day Poetry special

(Being poems written and performed by AYE-OLA MABIAKU during the CORA ARTHOUSE FORUM, in honour of the Art matriarch, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett. Held Sunday March 7 at Freedom Park Lagos and virtually, the event collaboratively organised by the Committee for Relevant Art, CORA, and the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners, NANTAP, was also to mark the occasion of the 2021 International Women’s Day, IWD)

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THANK GOD SHE IS A WOMAN  

From the time of my birth
When the He was a she
And many hissed in disappointment
But she thanked God I was a woman

When torn skirts ripped
And broken hearts bled
With great tears of pain
She thanked God she was a woman

Through centuries unspoken
Despised for her gender
Relegated to pots and pans
I thank God she was a woman

Even now our roles have not changed
Our voices can be heard
Give her the deserved praise
And thank God I am a woman

— Aye-Ola Mabiaku 

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I DO NOT WISH TO BE A MAN

I do not wish to be a man 

For to be a man is not a day’s job 

And even a life time will not make me one

I do not wish to be a man

For I cannot play the games they play

And even if I tried I would be branded cheap and easy

I do not wish to be a man

For I have not their strength

I cannot kill a lion with my bare hands

I do not wish to be a man

For I am their strength

I am their mother their sister their wife

I feed them and care for them in pain

Their guide their encouragement and for some

The reason for living

I do not wish to be a man

For I was created for their very existence 

Formed out to their very bone

Modified to suit their pleasure 

I do not wish to be a man 

For I am woman the womb of generations

The very essence of mankind

— Aye-Ola Mabiaku — 19-07-03

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LET THE WOMEN SAY AMEN

Let women say amen 

And it shall be so

Let them stand for who they are 

And declare life on earth

As they made to do

Let the women arise with one voice

Singing songs as women not as men

Let their sonorous voices break all bonds

Shattering all walls of corruption and wrong

But let them sing as women not as men

Let the daughters of the land

Take their place as mother earth

For the souls of her departed

Cry justice and revenge

Who shall fight for her unborn child

Let the women speak as one 

May they declare fairness and equity

Let them be wives and not wolves 

And change things for good

Let the women say amen

— Aye-Ola Mabiaku — 2006