Little Girl Lyrics

Little girl

Little girl

You are beautiful

Every time she sees a little girl she lets out a sigh.

The sight of her uniform transports her to the day it began.

The day she stared into the mirror and cried

because despite her desire to see beauty

all she saw was a girl who looked like everything boys do not desire.

She was told, jest after jest, that the melanin in her skin is oversupplied,

there is no demand for women that look like her.

At 12, she gathered the Naira notes she was given for being a well-behaved child,

and purchased her first bleaching cream.

She convinced herself that it would help her brighten up the dark identity of a girl blending in the shadows of mockery.

Her skin

now multi-coloured:

dark brown on her thighs,

yellow on her cheeks,

black on her joints,

got her what she wanted: attention.

Only this time, it plastered on her a ridiculed identity

Side talks about her dark knuckles got stuck to her shadow & became the source of her popularity.

She was so desperate to be seen, she did not realize being seen for the wrong reasons, can be worse than obscurity.

She spent all her adult life running away from her reflection.

Unending makeup, Snapchat filters and photo editing became her obsession.

When yet another man took two glances at her,

she would knock the world over to win his heart.

An endless quest for the perfect outfit,

the brightest nail polish, the nicest stilettos.

She painted her face into a woman he mustn’t lose

a woman he would boldly declare that he wooed.

But what he did not know

is that his love interest

is still stuck in the head of

a scared little girl

who just wanted to be seen.

A scared little girl who didn’t realize that she was already seen

and men are not magnifying glasses.

She was 18 when she first heard that you don’t pick and choose

you accept the first man that jumps at you,

as a woman, you don’t have time to lose,

your biological clock is running loose.

Whenever she got treated badly and she cried at home

she heard: it is your fault, it is always your fault, the man is never at fault,

and she repeated it to herself till it became an affirmation.

Never coming to the realization

that self-love is better than an endless audition

to meet up with the latest beauty obsession.

She did not have to create a new personality, one that fit with the girls they like

while masking her true voice to sound a little light.

Did not have to see other women as competition for insecure men—a fleeting prize,

souls clueless with an energy that isn’t right.

Did not have to fold her greatness and settle for a lover that burns it.

Dear Little girl, you can heal now.

Dear grown woman, you can breathe now.

Listen,

The journey to love yourself will be a marathon,

Accepting compliments may feel like wearing an ill-fitted jersey

but smile anyways and say thank you.

Shut down that urge to dismiss it, their words are true: you are beautiful.

Make your own choices.

Irrespective of the societal definitions of womanhood that have been tattooed on your heart,

defy the ink and write your own story.

The presence or absence of a man does not determine your worth,

you were already worthy from the day you were born.

And despite the mental prison that feels too strong to give way,

there are escape keys

in the hands of your loved ones,

your therapist,

your community of women,

release the pain,

and direct the compass for your life.