I am a Black Woman
the newborn universe suckled at my teat
oh
you didn't know?
why then on clear nights do the constellations
appear so vibrant and sweet
I am sleek
I am well defined
I was a consort of the spirits
before recorded Hue-Man time
I am fine
no need to gape at my beautiful behind
every time
I strut I remind
artists that I am a portrait sublime
I AM A BLACK WOMAN
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF RECORDED TIME
I HAVE FILLED MEN OF ALL RACES
WITH WONDER AND SURPRISE
SHIELD YOUR EYES
AS MY BEAUTIFUL BLACKNESS
ECLIPSES THE SUNRISE
I am a Black Woman
The Mother of the First Land
come closer baby
feel my hands
the calluses and bruises
I change the diaper of Neptune
when Venus refuses
I determined my Black Man's glorious fate
and asked for no reward
I was raped
as my King was lead away in shackles and chains
and still I remain
a queen
the quintessence
the essence
of the Dream
I AM A BLACK WOMAN
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF RECORDED TIME
I HAVE FILLED MEN OF ALL RACES
WITH WONDER AND SURPRISE
SHIELD YOUR EYES
AS MY BEAUTIFUL BLACKNESS
ECLIPSES THE SUNRISE
I am a Black Woman
I Sojourned for the Truth
I am Coretta Scott King
Myrlie Evers
and Betty Shabazz
I didn't attend child birth classes
or practice lamaze
I had my babies right out there
in the cotton and cane fields
come closer baby
look at my beautiful yield
I am the backbone of my Mother Earth
I am so priceless
I am beyond worth
and still I scrubbed white women's floors
performed their mundane chores
healed their white babies sores
was forced to give in
when
they could not take their white men's sexual abuse anymore
and still
I
like an aged wine
am robust
sensual
pleasing to the palate
and so DAMN fine
I AM A BLACK WOMAN
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF RECORDED TIME
I HAVE FILLED MEN OF ALL RACES
WITH WONDER AND SURPRISE
SHIELD YOUR EYES
AS MY BEAUTIFUL BLACKNESS
ECLIPSES THE SUNRISE
I am a Black Woman
I don't have an attitude
I AM attitude
not trying to boast
or be rude
but I am the Creator's most perfect gift
with the fluttering of an eyelash
I can heal
or create a rift
I can shift
from a ghetto princess
to a White House Queen
no need for me to dare
I AM THE DREAM
hell
I am sexy even when I breathe
I don't hope
I achieve
I give my man reason to believe
and Lord knows
when the sons I sire
violently expire
I grieve
but,
I pick myself up
and start the new day fresh
for, I am a Black Woman
I AM THE BEST
I AM A BLACK WOMAN
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF RECORDED TIME
I HAVE FILLED MEN OF ALL RACES
WITH WONDER AND SURPRISE
SHIELD YOUR EYES
AS MY BEAUTIFUL BLACKNESS
ECLIPSES THE SUNRISE

All Poetry by D.Greaves/Darwin Greaves by D.Greaves-Darwin Greaves is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dgreaves.posterous.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://dgreaves.posterous.com/pages/dgreaves-tos