Dignity in Distress

Dignity in Distress 

D. R. Ruhweza

I see you

Adjust your wig

You put up a brave face

Even when your body needs to rest

But you have to feed your babies

I see

I see you

Apply makeup and perm your hair

In spite of the yellow uniform you wear

And the shame of an inmate number

You respond to

I see you

Your eyes well up with tears

Each time you pass by the boda-boda stage

Where your dignity was roughly removed

In distress you stand strong

Amidst the abuse of in-laws

You silently bear the cross

To feed your babies

I see you

You wince at the memory of their father

Roughly forcing himself on you

Yet smile at them as they call you

Mommy

Fighting the hateful emotion that seeks to envelope you

Each time his resemblance

Develops in their budding faces

I see you

Dignified in your distress

As that lumpen of a man leaves you

Stranded

Crying mucus infested babies tugging

At your hand me down skirts

Thrown out of the single rented house

For lack of rent

He disappears and never returns

I see you

Bear the shame

Having been arrested for collecting bribes

For your superior

Monies you will never touch or see in your own wallet

Shamed before the cameras

As the Jezebel that corrupts the erstwhile perfect medical system

Perfect Kwanini!!

As though we all don’t know

That he who has never sinned should cast the first stone

I see you

Bear the shame of burning eyes and waging tongues

Wife of murderer X

Sister of robber Y

Daughter of philanderer Z

You trudge on

Each step

More painful than the next

I see you

I see you

12^th March 2020