Widow

By Emmanuel Gandu

Death snatched her husband
She is exposed to loneliness
Memory of him brings tears
She sees shadows of nothing
Because she is a widow

Death the dress she wears
Like a fly in a spider’s web
She hears voices of void
All night long she cries
Because she is a widow

Death’s wicked pangs bare
Once cherished by all
Family and friends keep far
She from misery to agony
Because she is a widow

Death not her choice
Hardship chose her
Who shall come to her aid
Treat her fairly-Deut 10:18
Because she is a widow

This she wish you not
This she wish your mother not
This she wish your wife not
This she wish your sister not
Because she is a widow Composed by Emmanuel Gandu

EXPLANATORY NOTES
This poem is a lamentation on the plight of widowhood. The poem explores the pain, agony and isolation of widowhood in our society through the imagery of death, absence, loneliness, emptiness, and hardship.
The poet compares the window’s bitter, hopeless, empty heart and life to a life of void symbolized by a fly trapped in a spider’s web.

In an attempt to bring forth to the reader the stark contrast between a woman and a widow, the poet reflects on a woman’s experiences of losing a husband to the cold arms of death. The poet achieves this through the use of metaphors in her struggles with isolation, depression, and her search for meaning and respite even in the face of despair and misery.

The poem seeks to capture the social and cultural circumstances usually placed on widows, while depicting her as a symbol of suffering, neglect, and isolation.
This is all with the intent to drawing attention of benevolent people that will give her hope of a life after the death of her husband.

In conclusion, the poem echoes the societal norms that assumes the world of a woman’s identity of an ultimate reality of losing a husband – a reality she would not wish for nobody. Commentary by Emmanuel Gandu