By Ama Poetry

What if the child you ridicule at school is fighting battles you know nothing about? In The Truth I Adore!, Ama Poetry takes readers beyond the classroom and into the hidden reality of a child living with violence at home. While classmates see someone they can dismiss as “Musiru,” the speaker carries the consequences of alcohol abuse, domestic violence and pain passed from one family member to another. Yet, despite everything happening at home, the child still finds the strength to show up. The poem challenges us to look beyond appearances before judging another person’s behaviour, ability or worth.

You call me “Musiru.”

But do you know
the truth I adore?

Fueled by waragi,
father’s rageful hands

dig bloody wounds
on mother’s skin.

“Leero nooba!”
she vows to leave,

but stays.

I, her only child,
bear the weight

of her hurt heart.

She slaps
and abuses me.

My agitated ileum
laments the pieces of air.

My grimy nose
feeds its desperate enzymes.

Classmates,

can a “Musiru”

really walk through
all this pain

and still show up?

— Ama Poetry