By Nikki Giovanni
I was born in the Congo
I walked to the Fertile Crescent and built the Sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star that only glows every one hundred years falls into the center giving divine perfect light.
I am bad.
I sat on the throne drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe to cool my thirst.
My oldest daughter is Nefertiti the tears from my birth pains created the Nile
I am beautiful woman.
I gazed upon the forest and burned out the Sahara desert
With a packet of goat's meat and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift so swift you can't catch me.
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant
He gave me Rome for Mother's Day
My strength flows ever on
My son Noah built a new ark and
I stood proudly at the helm as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into my self and was Jesus
Men intone my loving name
All praise all praise
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels delivered uranium
The fillings from my fingernails are
Semi-precious jewels
Once a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the Arab world
I am so hip my errors are correct.
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid across three continents.
I am so perfect, so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean....I....can fly
Like a bird in the sky....