The First Cut is the Deepest by Tim King

I remember feeling a comforting glow
When I first heard your name on the radio
And thinking; ‘How fantastic it must be
To live in a land where the presidency
Is held by a man with such an optimistic moniker…‘
Goodluck Jonathan, proud leader of Nigeria
What a disappointment you’ve become

CUT

Goodluck Jonathan says, “Hard luck Gillian
If you had been born a boy we’d let you keep your willy on
But as it is your sheets are streaked with crimson and vermilion
You’re bound to be a good girl now…”

CUT

In a country where an organisation
Calling itself ‘Western Education is Forbidden’
Can kidnap, hide and hold to ransom
Two hundred schoolgirls
With apparent impunity
Two thousand girls of pre-school age
Are forced to endure so-called female circumcision  – more accurately, clitoral excision –
Every day.
That’s roughly four every three minutes

CUT

The Nigerian government refuses to outlaw this practice
Supporters stating openly, “It keeps women in their place”
Justifying themselves with reference to religion and tradition
Concocting ethical confusion to keep liberals at bay
But this is not a matter of relative freedoms
It’s naked, tribal, patriarchal oppression
And it’s wrong wrong wrong

CUT

Female Genital Mutilation
May well be the local custom
But it sure as Hell ain’t culture
It’s the ritual desecration
Of everything a girl must be
To feel her love authentically
And not the bitter irony
Of specious sensitivity
This ultimate misogyny
Really has to

STOP