SHE LEFT

She said, "I am not supposed to be experiencing all these.

I am not expected to be suffering like this.

I am supposed to leave.

But because of you, I won't."

She also said, "My mum left when I was twelve,

and I don't want history repeating itself;

so I would stay to take care of my kids myself.

Just because of you, I will stay."

The complaints are laid usually,

The beatings increased gradually,

Arguments occur more frequently.

Alas! It seems like love is lost.

My heart is aching.

My heart is breaking.

The once "I won't leave, I won't be leaving"

became "I fear, my feet are shaking."

The preaching of "I won't be like my mom"

became "I will teach you how to live without a mum."

But why?! Why do we have to mourn

when she singlehandedly took her decision?

Chinua Achebe is the author of _'Things fall Apart'_.

My mum and dad were the reason things fell apart.

I thought we would always live as a whole, not parts.

This is the beginning of a broken home.

But why?! Why?! I repeat.

Why is life so cruel?

Why do love not understand?

I do not seem to get.

Now tell me, whose fault is it?

Is it the father's lack of care?

Or the mother's gallop into another man's arms?

Or the inability of the children to do anything?

Whose?

Father's attitude and mother's behavior lead to a broken home.

A broken home brings up an emotionally disturbed child.

An emotionally disturbed child may lead to a tomorrow lout.

And a tomorrow lout suffers a great nation.

Have you ever heard of an orphan with both parents?

Life makes so little.

A PEN for TWO