TURN DOWN THE LIGHT
Lekan Ogedengbe 1966 (Ibadan)
Turn down the brightness
For this light brings the focus
On what I am no longer proud of
Focus on me in your arms
Should I now be ashamed
Like a married man
Caught with a prostitute
Or like a man forced
To bury adulterous wife
That died under her lover
From this luscious bosom
I wish not to depart
And your enchanting figure
That ensnared me from the start
The same that ensnared
The one that raped you first
The same for which you were deflowered
Thus becoming stained and soiled
Marked to be disdained and mocked
And now a harlot they turned you.
They came in shades of colour
The white had their thirst
Assuaged from the painful spring
From in-between your thighs
Now your incestuous children
Are having their turns on you
And holding your legs apart
For more rapists from far land
To further demean and deprave you
Now I am ashamed
Being caught in your arms.
About this poem
The poem laments the loss of the innocence of a loved one who has been turned to a prostitute
Font size:
Written on March 29, 2024
Submitted by maildupperroom on March 29, 2024
- 49 sec read
- 0 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AAXB CXXXXD XEDEXFCXXG DFXXXGEXG CB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 867 |
Words | 166 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 6, 10, 9, 2 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"TURN DOWN THE LIGHT" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/184799/turn-down-the-light>.
Discuss the poem TURN DOWN THE LIGHT with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In