A Thousand Different Meanings in A Thousand Different Ways

Kambili; Let me be Let me live Let me choose my life A thousand different meanings in a thousand different ways Being strong didn’t save her; all bravery released into the wrong days Her mind as confused as ever, with feelings dripping out of her soul; Torn between her father and Father Amadi, She doesn’t let go Poor Kambili; she lost all she loved without even knowing it Lost them to life because life is what always happens Lost her path to what never came; Lost herself… and as for her heart, she cured it by disowning it She loved her Papa, her angel – Fear in the form of perfection, but worse, Perfection in the form of fear She lost him. She loved her family, But they broke away Never coming back to say I miss you She loved herself, in a way – In a hard way Pushing to be always at the top Pushing even though her heart was being crushed by a tight knot She remembers the purple hibiscus, The smiles, The pride, The beautiful prayers But those beautiful prayers, Lord! Those beautiful prayers were killing her; Her mother losing a child Herself losing her father Her heart losing her lover Lord! Why should Kambili pray to you, If all you did was take it all away, In a thousand different meanings, in a thousand different ways? author - Jessica Maguilnik Leao ®