at childhood’s end
venial the brown girl
of eleven seasonsenters timorously her
matrimonial homesoon to know a bed pf pain
a sharpindifferent tearing and callous
seedingcondemned to prevenient
maternity, a fearfulordeal begins.
vile the old man who takes
her to wifea debaucher and lover of
children, whogreedily ogles her lean hips
her breasts not yetin bloom. she is just right
docile, impubicneither has she seen her
mensesaroused, tumescent, this
obdurate oldlecher rapes, ruptures his
child bride!fell the circumstances at
childhood’s endimmured, kept in purdah
the least ofseveral same fated wives
the girl has watched hertummy grow, has borne an
anemic childuntimely; has borne the agony
of stretchinglabor; the crushing of
kidney, spleenand bladder; has borne
the humiliationextant in being unable to
hold her urinehas been driven away from
her husband’s houseexiled at childhood’s
endleft to fend or fare
well or illlost.
©Joseph McNair; 2009
Vesico vaginal fistulae is still prominent in those areas of Africa and the middle east where child brides and pre-pubescent handfasting are practiced. Thank you gfor bring this to light
ReplyDeleteI experienced being peed on in a Kaduna taxi i was sharing with two you hausa women. I was riding along talking to the driver when i noticed my clothes were wet. I was sitting in pee. The driver told me this was common "up here," young women forced into marriage and regular intercourse early and damaging theit internal systems.
ReplyDeleteA VVF is an abnormal communication between the urinary bladder and the vagina that results in the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault. An accurate diagnosis is paramount before consideration of repair. A variety of methods are available to the clinician, and any excessive or suspicious vaginal discharge in a patient who recently underwent pelvic surgery or who has a history of pelvic radiotherapy should be evaluated promptly for a UGF.
Numerous factors contribute to the development of VVF in developing countries. Commonly, these are areas where the culture encourages marriage and conception at a young age, often before full pelvic growth has been achieved. Chronic malnutrition further limits pelvic dimensions, increasing the risk of cephalopelvic disproportion and malpresentation. In addition, few women are attended by qualified health care professionals or have access to medical facilities during childbirth; their obstructed labor may be protracted for days or weeks.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/267943-overview