She says,

I want to be a British Pound Coin

I smile

As not to destroy the hopes

Dreams

Of an African Girl

She says,

I wish to be free

I smile

Because I understand that to be

Free

And to be a Pound Coin

Are certainly not the same

I understand the

Disrespect

So many have

For even the shiniest of currencies

I know

They will never see her worth

If there is one already

Assigned

She wants to be a British Pound Coin

Because it is

Safer

To transform in her

Girlhood

Easier to reject her

Womanhood

Money

Her Nigerian Womanhood

For the security she

Thinks she’ll find in

Money

To forget the milk

And honey flowing in the valleys

Money

To pretend her home

Never left her with anything beautiful anyway

Money

Is a very

Dirty thing

And a British Pound Coin

Is no different

The grime

Sweat

Spit

Of those who wish to

Use you

Follows

Everywhere

You go

The fickle

Thrill

You call freedom

Will be your

Damning

Do you not realize

A girl

With a name as

Sweet

As Yours

Is begging to be

Devoured

There are vultures

Out there

Exchanging your

Freedom

For uglier things

For bodies frailer than yours

How could you

Betray

Your sisters

For a seat at

Their table

A chance to eat their

Scraps

To be acknowledged

By the very monsters

Who made you believe

Your body

Your curves

Were for their

Pleasure

Eyes scanning over you

Mind undressing you

Hands destroying you

How could you

Want this?

You are not to bite

The hand that feeds

But how could you

Pamper the one

Which kills?

She says,

I want to be a British Pound Coin

I smile

Because how could I ever tell her?

How could I explain

This

To a girl

Who wears her

Courage

In hidden hues of

Scarlet

To a girl

Who sacrificed ever being a

Woman

For the security

Her breasts

Never allowed

To a girl

Who believes

To flee the

Gunfire and

Flames in her village

She must

Run to the

Hands of those who

Lit the match

She says,

I want to be a British Pound Coin

And I let her

---

Inspired, of course, by Chris Cleave’s Little Bee. It’s been on my heart for a while so I gave myself twenty minutes and just wrote.