Bride Price

I found an interesting poem when I was attending a lecture. The poem is written by an African lady named Mabel Segun. Still remember that the moment my lecturer asked us to flip to page N and within a second, a piece of fine work glittered right in front of my sleepy and half-closed eyes ( not due to the lecturer, but my own fault indeed, slept late, keke ). So, my tired-eyes were immediately being energized by the power of words and the attractiveness of someone's wisdom.

You must pay the price
Of wanting to marry
A university graduate,
A Ph. D. at that!
She's worth every bit
Of six thousand naira;
We must uphold tradition.

Agreed, but then
Can you give a guarantee
She's not shop-soiled
All those years on the campus,
Swotting and sweating,
Sucking up to lecturers
For all those degrees?

Shop-soiled, you ask?
What do you mean 'shop-soiled'?
Our daughter's not old clothes,
She's not old books
That get soiled in the shop;
She's old wine, matured over the years
For the discerning taste.

Shop-soiled she may not be,
Matured no doubt she is;
But then is she untouched?
Has nobody removed the cork,
All those years in the varsity?

That we cannot tell you,
That's your business to find out
On your nuptial night
In the privacy of your bedroom.

In that case, in-laws, dear,
Can I return her then
And obtain a refund
According to tradition
If I should discover
Someone has sipped the wine
Before I got there?

By Mabel Segun
Bride Price