Ultimate Dishonour
by cricketjeff on June 25, 2009. © Jeff Green, All rights reserved
A pretty face and sometimes just a hint
Of make-up making more of laughing eyes
A summer dress, a modern cotton print
Or jeans that made the most of shapely thighs
Her friends made friends with boys and even men
And then they’d laugh about it as girls do
She’d seen the one she wanted way back when
The feelings she was feeling had been new
Her father and her uncles knew a man
He’d helped them long ago in village life
A passport and a visa were the plan
The pretty daughter perfect for his wife
It’s honour that dictates the way to act
She only has to know that simple fact
A holiday they said with family
A happy time before the call of books
Her brothers fussed around her constantly
She didn’t hear the words or see the looks
The village wasn’t rich but well enough
They stayed with cousins, fed like royalty
To wear the local clothes was rather tough
But fitting in they said was necess’ry
They spoke their language fast, too fast for her
But as she learned a bulb began to glow
They’d let her go if she would just concur
She must obey but all she’d say was no
What honour falls on fools who’d rather kill
Than let a daughter exercise her will
Author notes
The prompt was “honour killing” one of the least accurate euphemisms ever to
pollute our language.
English