Do not beat me, if you do not want me to cry.

For cry i will and quite loud you can bet.

I will wail in such a voice as will shake the earth, that even the neighbors farthest to the north will hear.

Do not beat me if you do not want me to cry.

Why would you expect love, when all you give is hate.

Why should i listen to you, when you stuff your ears with mud, that my cry of anguish, is a silent movement of the lips.

Do not beat me if you do not want me to cry.

For you abandon me in the scorching sun, while you rest in shade.

I am sitting on an anthill, while you sit on cushions.

Don't you see, I'm being eaten from the bottom up?

Do not beat me if you do not want me to cry.

For i have a hammer and nails For a chair, but the wood is in your house.

How can i tap the wine,if you've taken the palm tree?

I have sharpened the knife but the yam is in your house.

Do not beat me if you you do not want me to cry.

When you leave me with a sharpened knife, hammer and nails.

What do you expect me to do with them?

Do you mind if I ask?

Do not beat me if you do not want me to cry.

For wail i will, make no mistake about it.

That's the only other way to assuage my pain, or i might be forced to use the sharpened knife, hammer and nails.

© Ngozi Ubogu 2021.