Not by Choice (Child of the Night.)

Am a child of the night,
either by reason
of being a woman,
or by being born
at the wrong time.

As I lay there
my legs apart,
servicing men
from all walks of life,
my mind drifts away,

Asks me questions,
of why I do this,
how ended up here,
Selling my body
for mere pennies.

I have children,
from the varying men
who promised me a better life,
one away from this torture,
but as I came to learn, it was air.

If I had only miscarried
or had an abortion
I wouldn’t be cleaning
my vigina from the filth
I earned last night for this loaf of bread.

My community casted me away
after I was rapped at 15,
I had to get money
to take care of myself,
so I sold myself for no one helped,

If death could be so merciful,
rescue me from this life
like those lucky ones
lying there in that mortuary,
I would forever be indebted.

Am a child of the night,
a prostitute,
a night walker,
not by choice
nor been at the mercy of life.
™©Mwangi Njoroge.