Tebok Kai

written by Anna Ibiteye 

                 What does a blind woman have to offer a world she can’t see?
                                                              Nothing.

But we have offered every part of our body – nose, hands, souls and spirits to the whispers on the street.
Our wheelchairs have grown into shiny symbols of shame
and our crutches are no different from chains.

Yesterday, my sister was chased out of the parliament
because she drooled at the table – she must have forgot
that saliva is a taboo in leadership.

When you see them laughing, tell them that we are tired of 
retrieving arrows from their lips, that we are tired of the 
insults that pierce our very core.

Tell them that our brains are not buried in prosthetic limbs,
that we have a fountain of ideas in our heads flowing to the 
tips of our tongues.

Tell them that even the blind can sit on thrones and rule,
that IQ is a function of the mind, not eyes.

Tell them that we are demigods moving with brilliant 
strides and a heart burning with zeal defying all odds.

Tell them that we are not disabled
We are just special.

© 2024 tebokkai

Photo credit: Jordi Salas

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