Flight to Paradise

© Rosemary K, 2008

You called me with promises bounteous
You lured me with visions of affluence
You fanned my desire for abundance
Urging me to denounce my homeland
For a flight to paradise.

In much haste
You concocted an invitation
You said it was a visitation
For me to get the visa
That I may join your company
Lucrative deals plenty
And a taste of paradise.

Although a humble tea girl
My file read like a diplomat’s:
Rich polished language
Overflowing finances
Certified bank records
And a top job on return.

So I got the visa
Was so excited a Lisa
Sleep tactfully withdrew
As I lay awake in awe
Awaiting the blessed hour
My flight to paradise.

When you met me at the airport
You said I was an illegal migrant
You confiscated my passport
Said it was for security
You handed me to the employer
Claiming I was a refugee
Taking a needed break
From turbulent Africa.

If I knew the deception
I would never have accepted
To be party to concessions
Conducted in sessions
Behind the cold walls
The darkened brothels.

I wish you told me
I wish you made the hint
That you traded humanity
Agency to depravity
Tricking girls into captivity
For sale in the brothels.

Now I am eternally shackled
A nameless foreign victim
Undocumented alien visage
Slaving away in a brothel
For swarms of mean brothers.
I am a slave prostitute
Turned into a destitute
By cruel hapless ingrate
As I sought for repose
In a flight to paradise.

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