Lava (NHB Modern Plays) by Benedict Lombe

Author:Benedict Lombe [Lombe, Benedict]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788503846
Publisher: Nick Hern Books

THREAD THREE

Ireland: Black Girl

ONE

PASSPORT

OFFICE. ‘Dear Miss Her Last Name

We have still not received a response from

you. Please note that your application will be

terminated if we do not hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Her Majesty’s Passport Office.’

HER. A Congolese girl moves to Ireland via South

Africa just one month after she gains South

African citizenship.

She wonders about the irony of having proof

of your legitimacy in a country where no one

cares.

Do the Irish have a word for kwerekwere here?

She soon realises they don’t need one.

When everywhere you go, everything you see,

everyone you meet

is a reminder of what you are not.

You are not a redhead.

But your hair juts out with a boldness they

will never know.

You do not have flowing tresses.

But your curls coil up with a tightness they

will never know.

You do not have green/blue eyes.

But your brown ones hold a depth they will

never know.

You do not have delicate lips.

But your wide lips stand out with a fullness

they will never know.

You do not have fair skin.

But your skin, but your skin, your skin.

Beat.

When they tell you they were slaves too

that they know your pain,

that they share your history

you smile a tight-lipped smile and hold your

tongue,

the tongue that wants to remind them that

indentured servants with basic rights

and African slaves with none,

were not one and the same.

But you’re ten. Maybe eleven.

And you don’t have the words yet

but something inside you is stirring, twisting.

When they reach for your hair without pause,

you let them

waiting for that moment of horror, of surprise,

of disgust

when their light hands make contact with your

thick creams and your heavy oils, and your

full-bodied moisturisers.

Then you wait for the blame to come.

And it always does.

In a little town called Ennis, in County Clare,

Ireland

there you are.

Black Girl. I see you.

With your hair that juts out with a boldness

they will never know.

With your curls that coil up with a tightness

they will never know.

With your brown eyes that hold a depth they

will never know.

With your wide lips that stand out with a

fullness they will never know.

With your skin, with your skin, with your skin.

Black Girl. You are beautiful.

God, how I wish you knew.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.