One Poem Only is a daily poetry podcast offering a quiet moment with a single poem—read aloud, without analysis or noise.

Lost Bond

Pinky Faith Okafor

There are stories the world claims to tell,

Yet, we do not hear.

Stories of girls denied the gift of learning,

Who live through nightmares and are not allowed to dream.

Of salma–12 who watches her uncle close a business deal behind closed doors

Scrubbing the blood of strangers two weeks later was how she learned

It was her future which was traded.

Of preta–22,

Dragged into a corner by 5 boys,

Who walked away with her smile and her voice.

Now she stands by her window every night,

Talking to the moon

This is the only way she feels heard.

Of every girl in my country who walks down the hill

Before the sun even rises,

Carrying a heavy container,

And a heavier heart.

dreams of desks and blackboards,

Her childhood is passing

One chore, one silence, one sacrifice at a time

No one asks

No one cares

And when bad things happen, they ask,

"What were you wearing,?"

"Where were you going?"

"Who did you go to see?"

Instead of saying,

"This shouldn't have happened to you."

They clap for us on special days

Girl's day, women's day

But forget to lend us a hand on all the other days

When we need it the most.

And now,

all I have to say is this:

We will continue to stand tall,

to dream without fear

even when our dreams seem small.

We will speak out,

even if our voices still shake.

Because silence is never an option

We are not weak,

And we will tell our stories with our own lips.

More from Pinky Faith Okafor ↓

1. @_pinkythepoet on Instagram

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Write After: National Poetry Month with One Poem Only

Write After is a way to encourage poets to listen and write, and use National Poetry Month to highlight how listening to poetry makes us better poets. I know I write the best when I’m surrounded by beautiful poetry–it’s part of the reason I created this podcast, and I want to encourage others to share this practice. We'll get started in April. You can share to #WriteAfterOPO.

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