In Those Days

The year subsides into cloudsmore beautiful than any ever seenAtieno can’t say goodbye yetWith hands not new to harshness and cracked feet that speak of turbulenceshe grapples the roughness of prickly days and freezing nights under the starry skiesHer grumbling tummy remains her only companionStill Atieno won’t bid goodbyeMaybe one day after one of the trifling rows with the madamand she is bleeding black and blueher breath barely a whisperand her reality dimly progresses on to a lightAtieno will smile and say goodbye  *This is an ode to Marjorie Macgoye's Freedom Song