BARTHOLOMEW MASIRICHI
2 min readNov 20, 2020

THE CICATRIX
The cicatrix tells it all, a story
A tale of pain and agony
Hid behind my veil
The psychological scars, which
Differ in every way from the physical
Scabs that serrate my back, the welts
Crest upon my chest
I was innocent and untouched when
Suddenly, like a lily plucked out of its
Habitat, this stranger dark and fearful
Yanked me from my roots, the cradle
Of my childhood remembrances
The journey hereto was swift and profound,
Drawing me smartly to the days of my torment
Words can scarcely carry my suffering,
Fear gripped me:
Like cheap commodity, my dignity was
Purchased without worthy tender
And thus was it that the merchants same as bought
Me off for so wretched a price, sealed my fate
Only to send me farther away from the foothole
Of my grip, never again to see the land of my birth
And the breasts that suckled me
Words fail me, words fall short of describing my
Pain, my inner suffering
I was taunted and molested, was made a slave of
My weak fingers could not claw my master’s devices
My voice could not pitch soprano the music of my
Pain- the fable of my bleeding soul
Yet like tidal waves these ocean waves have
Broken on my bank, my feminine dignity ripped
Away from me, taken
I roamed the streets, seeking solace in the strangest
Of places
Men of ill-dignity took turns at me
But to live is to hope, hoping for an end to the
Harrowing nights that threaten our collective will
O! But that we were given a fresher lease to life-
That Heaven brought us Salvation
But man, and not Heaven, can put an end to all this
We are our own salvation
Let us one and all do a work of goodwill
Feed these hungry souls, clothe their naked forms
And above all give them a roof above their heads
Unleash the wrath of justice upon the merchants of evils
And the plunderers of our children’s lives-
Let our pains extend to you
That you may stand the heavy weight of the law against
Child-traffickers and their gory enterprises
It is our cry to make
But yours is the will to act
And certainly, posterity will smile on us
Let us one and all scream it on the rooftops-
That child-trafficking is a heinous crime against humanity!
End child-trafficking today! End it now!