Linda Gabriel

I could have married you Lilongwe
If you had proven that you are not like them all
How could you, have the guts to reveal my being to all those naked eyes
At least you could have taken a brotherly role, stood up for my ground
Punched a few blows to some of them
Maybe another could have been an uncle
Who could have taken off his shirt to wrap it around my bottom?
Or my little brother who could have called and cried for help
But alas, you all did nothing
So allow me to remove this engagement ring

I could have married you Blantyre
If on that day when you were indoors debating and deciding on my future
You had done it on the streets and the market
You should have marched with placards voicing out for a right that had been wronged
With clenched fists flying up high in the skies
As we sang songs to concertize the masses
Maybe they should have listened, or learnt one or two
Or the brave ones would have marched along by our side
Basing out loud Vendor nikugule lero, mawa undivhule
But nothing at all
You convened inside behind closed doors
As if it was sister to sister wronging each other
So don’t deny me my right to walk away


 I could have married you Mzuzu
Only on one condition, if you had reasoned above your capacity
Instead you created room to watch an insane mdalla force his filthy monster inside her little world
She struggled on her back in pain and tears
With her eyes tightly closed, as if saying her last prayers begging for salvation
You,like high school cheer leaders you war cried more and more to his increasing pace and tempo
You allowed yourselves to reach climax with him
You even wiped his sweat on your own faces
This little girl is carrying his child; today she asked me what to name the child
 I told her, Cold Heart for she will stand as a reminder of the warm hearts that we have allowed to froze
And you still expect me to say yes?


I could have married you Petroda
If you could still quench my thirst as you used to do a few months ago
Nowadays your pipe is always dry and too many women waiting patiently to have you
On those occasions when you have a little to give many return to their doors without getting any
After persevering the scotching sun and empty stomachs,
You sent them away, depriving them of their right to be juiced up
With no hope, they yell and swear at you but still because they love you, they still return to you
Whenever they hear rumours that you are in town and might want to relieve one or two
Then the price of having just a little part of you is becoming unbearable
I just wonder when you will get your waters back.
But for now let go of me,
May be I could go well with Shell,
Or I should give a try to Injena or Puma



I could have married you Mr
If only you had closed your eyes,
Reflecting on who I am, who we had become and what lay ahead of us
If you had been manly to address your assumptions face to face
Rather than watching me pack and leave then rant them via sms
You could have taken a step backward or sideways to allow yourself room
To ponder on how we had sailed through stormy days, when it was just the two of us,
If for a moment you had thought of our kids Lavender, Flora, Stay Soft, Blue, Protex
If only you had thought of how the cyber had connected us, how we ended up together,
How we wanted to blend our difference into one crazy world
I don’t blame you,
I also have my own flaws or I didn’t have all that it takes to deserve you
I don’t regret you
For this is just history that has been created
A love story to be told to future generations
And a lesson learnt

I won’t be the first or last to take of this ring because it didn’t work out
In another life time, if you chose to change, maybe just maybe
I might marry you Malawi