The women who have taken giant leaps out of the steep slopes of suffering
The women who have known nothing but carrying daughters on their backs
to walk into a prescribed lifetime of suffering
This is a testimony from a woman who has known suffering
I will start by telling you that everything they taught you is wrong
I will start by telling you that suffering will never be a quick fix means to peace
Your means to peace is a solution in you not in a lifetime of suffering
You are only as weak as what you allow to weaken you
You are only as strong as what you suffer for
The patriarchy of our culture is glorifying women’s suffering
Our men never protect us from suffering
But praise us for suffering-praise us for being strong
We are tired of being strong- tired of suffering
This letter is to you
The women who have undressed to sleep on bedsheets made of thorns
Those who have been force fed spoonful of false hopes and ideologies
Left with bitterness on empty stomachs nourished by an appetite of pain, regret, and shame
The patriarchy of our culture is glorifying women’s suffering
you’re a good wife- good daughter-good sister
By the suffering you endure-In marriage-In the home and in community
The patriarchy of our culture is glorifying women’s suffering
you’re a good wife- good daughter-good sister
By the suffering you endure-In marriage-In the home and in community
This is a letter to you,
The women who receive kisses from lips laced with poison
Those who have never known love free from hurt
Yet still preach love because we birth men into societies that teach them to hate themselves
The patriarchy of our culture is glorifying women’s suffering
We follow empty traditions to appease and keep peace
Though we have grown to know destruction on our bodies like a sixth sense
Still, we nourish the parched soils of our bodies because where will home for our men be if not in us?
This is a letter to you,
The women who are constantly forced to walk the plank to the edge of their lives
The broken ones that have nothing to cradle for comfort on sleepless nights
but minds of anxiety placed on tear-stained pillows
When you reach the edge of your life
I hope that you never feel the urge to jump
Even when the burden becomes a little too much to bear
Don’t you dare break your back carrying burdens that were never yours to carry in the first place
Dear, south Sudanese women
I will end by telling you that today you will never know suffering
You will never endure suffering-to know-to find your worth- to live your peace
You will not endure suffering
And your daughters will not live it.
