adapted from The midwife on a mission to stop female genital mutilation
In the Cherangani Hills of Kenya
Surrounded by trees
Men turn their backs,
Women hold hands, grit strong white teeth.
Removing pleasure
Cuts away childhood
Slitting clitoris
Insures virginity
With slash of dull blade
Girl becomes woman
Who must scream in silence
Sewed tightly shut
They are gifts to be opened by husbands,
Or by the curved horn of an animal,
Or by a bloody infant,
Ripping its path into the world
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