Anachronisms

I thought I met you Yesterday,
wearing a pair of fleecy blue gloves
an upturned coat
and a downturned
smile;
You whispered a song or sermon to yourself
as you walked down
the parched pavement,
quenching its thirst with your every step.

It was the summit of summer season
Yet
you shivered
like hot tea blown cool too fast;
stopped every now and then to
rub your gloved hands together
before burying them once more
within the suede lining of your coat pockets,
whispering a song
or sermon
or sonnet
softly to yourself.

I thought I met you Yesterday,
But maybe it was Tomorrow;
for you seem too much a vision of the Future;
cool as stone
in a world
overheating,
burning,
corroding
from its own
Caustic
Lies.

I wrote this poem about myself a few months ago because it typifies me – an anachronistic woman. I describe myself as such because I feel that I am moving quicker than time and culture will allow for me to do as a woman. We African women are tied down by so many patriarchal demands and commands that we are often forced to accept in order to be perceived favourably by our communities.

But I feel like a rebel, the devil’s advocate – an anachronism whispering a song, sermon, sonnet of strength softly to myself, feeling cool amid the heat of madness.

I speak of oppression and triumph. I interrogate norms and standards. I push the envelope.

I am not a woman of my time. I am a woman of the future. In fact, I am a voice of our future!

What led me to the WorldPulse online community was the idea that I could interact with other like-minded women from all over the world, women who are unafraid to speak up and to speak out! Women who are the futuristic, anachronistic – moving society into a world where women can be what they want to be.

Part of the soul of WorldPulse is to create a world where women can transform their lives as well as the lives of those around them by simply raising their voices.

And raising my voice is what I am about! My blogging has helped me in this endeavour immensely and I believe that when one woman has the courage to speak, she paves the way for others to do the same.

In WorldPulse, I feel I have found a community of women with a similar mandate as mine. And through the’ Voices of our Future’ course, I know I will make my voice louder, bolder, stronger – not only for myself but also on behalf of the many voiceless women in our world whose chorus remains the horrible sound of pain borne in deafening silence.