The Ofi Press Magazine

International Poetry and Literature from Mexico City

Monique Kwachou: 1 Poem Published

Poems by Monique Kwachou (Cameroon)

Published in issue 40 of The Ofi Press

 

 

  

I.D

Who am I? 

Graded produce on the social market.

Seeded, watered. 

Reared on the farm of common norms

Tilled with tools of tacit rules weeded with “what is right”

Fertilized with stereotypes

Cultured with public opinion

Tested in several institutions

Harvested to be just like you - 

No better, 

maybe worse?

 

Who Am I?

I am who you expect me to be, 

who you taught me to be, 

For your acceptance, 

 

…for my peace

About the Poet

Monique Kwachou is a Cameroonian youth advocate and writer. Her first book; Writing Therapy: A collection of poems was published in 2010 with Langaa RPCIG. She has since then published several short stories internationally, and has another collection of poems in the process of publication. She is slowly working on her first novel. She is a member and executive of the Anglophone Cameroon Writers Association (ACWA), she has participated in (and subsequently had her short stories published with)the Caine Prize Workshop for African Writing (2011), the FEMRITE Regional Residency in Uganda (2011) and Farafina Trust Literary Workshop in Nigeria (2012). When she is not reading or writing, she is involved in youth development projects through her organization Better Breed Cameroon.

Image: "I love the fleeting shade of your lashes" by Reji.