A MUST READ: Behind The Smile - Torera Adesina

BEHIND THE SMILE

She lights up the world with her smile
Makes sure it’s felt from a thousand
miles
He’s always happy, always cheerful
When someone’s like that, best be fearful
Her smiles don’t mean she doesn’t feel pain
There are a lot of things she’s trying to feign
She smiles to cover up the bruises on her back
From a father who delights pleasure in hitting
She smiles to cover up her oh so
numerous lacks
And the fact that her mother encourages those beatings
He smiles to draw attention away from his shabby clothes
Away from the sorrow you can see in his eyes
Away from the fact that she secretly
loathes
The uncle that rapes her every night
Her smile hides the hate you can feel around her
Hides the hate she feels for most ‘sir’s
It hides the torture he goes through
every time
Someone says something that makes his teeth grind
Someone says something like ‘I wish I could kill them’
Because he watched his brother get
murdered by men
She saw her sister get burnt by her mama
Cause she was pretty with nice manners
You can’t see that he feels a lot of
sadness
Instead he smiles to pretend there’s gladness
A million things can be hidden in the river Nile
Just as a million things are hidden behind the smile.

Written by- Torera Adesina

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