Captivity

You must follow your husband,

For richer or poorer...

A mother’s promise must be kept.

Silently the peasant woman crept through the darkness,

A darkness which embodied her existence.

A woman’s duty must be carried out,

Living under the rule of her husband,

She toils the fields,

She makes every meal,

She bears his sons.

Another day, another meal.

Black smoke engulfs the humble surroundings.

Chocking and spluttering,

She absent-mindedly fans the coal.

Tears mix with her coal-blackened face

As she weeps of her captivity.

She carries the inherited woven fan of her grandmother

A treasure from her mother.

Reminding her that a mother’s promise must be kept.

Women must uphold the family’s pride

However, she lives like a bird in a cage,

Longing to fly back home to her mother’s nest.

Knowing that she must forget this intangible dream,

She washes the clothes.

She tidies the hut.

She awaits her husband’s return.