7/30 - (30/30 Challenge)*

"I Am"

I am an artist. 

A poetic deity

divined to impart prophetic word power,

I am an angel’s daughter. 

The wildflower child nurtured 

By ghostly absentees

and dearly departed fathers; 

I am parented by love, pain and pride, 

the beautiful paradox 

my mother has always been proud of.   

I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams

The dream Hughes deferred 

And Martin spoke of. 

Revolutionary like the images Nikki painted

I am the freedom fire that burns ardently

In our Black hearts, 

our Black minds 

and our Black souls.   

I am ancient. 

I am new. 

Novel volumes of living not yet envisioned, 

Of past lives foretold, 

And generational legends

I am ancestral stories 

recorded in still pictures 

Snapshots of golden silence;

The wisdom you once missed 

before you learned the muted power of sage sense. 

I am the blues in your left thigh

Trying to become the funk in your right

The love you were jonesing for

And the silent noise you can’t get rid of 

I am

Classic 

Like Nina, 

Unbridled passion  

Rain soaked kisses

And thunderous lovemaking

I’m cataclysmic confessions 

Dismantled fears

And bold risk

I’m the Queen to his Slim 

I am the sister of a hustler, 

a Southern gentleman’s lover 

I am trauma resolved 

and broken curses 

I am the inspired hope 

birthed by my future seeds

The legacy 

and the lessons sown 

I am intention 

Healed wounds

And new beginnings

I am Black magic  

Erzulie love potions

Beloved babies  

Disguised as grown woman spirits

I am the genius of Toni Morrison. 

I am the rainbow for colored girls

A phenomenally risen woman,

Lorde's legacy of building bridges

And honoring difference.

I am wildly, unapologetic

I am Issa Rae's always rooting for Blackness

I am Assata's survival 

Freedom chants

And protest songs 

I am Yoruba traditions 

and Kwanzaa rituals 

Indigenous prayer circles 

herbs

and crystals.

I am pagan holidays

Holy scriptures 

and sacred text

I am blessed

I am blessed

I am affirmation

In and of itself

I am

I AM

*Watch me recite this piece on video here.