Don’t call me by my name
Call me your DAUGHTER.
Call me your female offspring
The joy of your fertility
Do not call me
By the name you got from the ancestors
A name which mocks black womanhood.
Don’t call me by my name.
Call me your SISTER.
For I am from your mother’s womb
Her nipples bred us both
Do not call me by that name
That you heard them saying
A name which takes away my sanity
Diminishing the worth of an eagle within
Can’t you hear me?
I yearn to belong amongst you,
To be called your own.
Don’t call me by my name.
Call me your WIFE.
Call me the bringer of happiness;
The apple of your eye
The fountain of your joy
Call me your HOME.
Call me the BUILDER.
The stronghold of your generation;
The multiplier…
Don’t call me with their names
As these can be swept away by the wind
After I am gone.
Don’t call me by my name.
Call me your MOTHER;
The comforter
Caregiver,
Fountain of love
Do not call me by the name my clan bestowed upon me.
Give me a name that enriches the soul within me.
A name which mirrors the womanhood
Within a phenomenal spirit.
Call me love personified.
A poem that can never be written.
Call me a charismatic social butterfly
with a genuine spirit amongst your clan
Maintain in me a frugal mindset
And cautious approach to my well being
Support me in my gruelling meltdowns
Of sculpturing me to perfection
As I become your charming piece of work
Adorned by all.
Vanessa Kalukwete began writing in 2019 and has contributed to The Bleeding tree poetry anthology, The Tuck Magazine and My Afrika Magazine. She lives in Harare, Zimbabwe.