DIDACTIC: "BLACK FUTURE" BY WEAH

The woman in me has gone mad—

Stripped of dignity in the slum of survival,

Trading her pride like a hawker at dusk,

An ego fallen, abandoned by the roadside.

Her fragrance lingers—rare, unforgettable—

Yet she is priced like a shattered mirror

Reflecting beauty no one wants to keep.

When she smiles, many fall—

Not in love, but into ruin,

For she is temptation clothed in elegance.

Paradise, do not cast us off as sinners,

But see us as gold—afraid of the refining fire.

Our stories, once sacred,

Are now pages flipped for amusement,

Performed on careless stages

Where pain is mistaken for comedy.

The anthem has changed—

From the “love of liberty”

To the worship of corruption.

The woman in me has risen—

But not in the likeness of Christ,

Crowned with sacrifice, truth, and peace.

She rises through shadows,

Palms stretched not in prayer,

But in acceptance of brown envelopes—

Thin as thread, yet heavy with betrayal.

She does not dream of tomorrow;

Time, to her, is a housemaid. 

Oh, this woman within me—

When shall we taste your truth, untainted?

Even lifeless pianos have sung your secrets,

Their keys echoing stories we refuse to hear.

Yet we—your ribs, your backbone—

Are soaked in daily mockery,

Cradling dreams that die before dawn.

We waltz with unemployment in silent despair,

While behind the curtain of reality

Lies abundance—hoarded, hidden, denied.

This woman!

© GABRIEL S. WEAH

alias Lyrical Genius

- Liberia

The poem portrays a “woman” as a symbol of a society that has fallen into moral decay, where dignity is traded for survival and corruption replaces integrity. It contrasts a past of sacred values with a present where pain is trivialised, leadership is compromised, and people are trapped in hardship and disillusionment. Despite this decline, the poem questions when truth and renewal will emerge, exposing the gap between hidden abundance and widespread suffering.