Life

Under the glistening halo of the copper sun,

A gorgeous mahogany, made of a bronze and dark-chocolate mix, was born.

With a crooked smile, independent mind, and a womanly figurate; she was bound for

greatness.

Smile wide enough to embrace the whole universe and mind powerful enough to make the

strongest man bend at her whim.

Each curve in her molding a memoir of the women who came before her, all of them

Africa’s daughters.

She carries the tears. The power. The courage. The strength. The pride

“Stand straight, shoulders back, chin up. Walk tall, don’t crouch. Lead, do not follow. Do

not bow. Do not cower. Do not conform. Speak up girl .Tell your story. And when the

world attempts to carry your voice as merely a whisper in the wind, wondering how you

even have the audacity to breathe, bellow every metaphor and allusion until your echo

comes roaring back. And when you fall. You Will Fall; get up. Get Up. And start all

over…

I don’t know when or how it happened,

But somewhere along the line of my short 18 years,

I managed to trip over my self-esteem, crushing my courage as I fell, and then struggled to

piece together my strength in the hopes of reviving my pride.

It took three resuscitations to bring it back.

Bruised. Battered. Betrayed.

I had forgotten what it meant to be a daughter of Africa,

Miscalculated my fall but accepted the challenge of Getting Up.

I found my pride hiding in the corner of my coat closet,

Enclosed in a little box surrounded by its grandmother.

There in that picture frame sat grandmother and granddaughter

Basking in glorious Copper sun under a sparkling sapphire sky.

A three-year old girl naïve to the uncertainties of life.

When I found my pride, I wrapped myself in it,

Showing it off to any who dared lay their eyes, even for a second upon it.

I’ve picked up the pieces of courage and I’m slowly mending them together.

I’ve put my self-esteem on middle shelving just in case it decides to fall again.

My pride remains bruised just a tad bit.

But it keeps me going, keeps me motivated to reveal the revelations that lie in the crevices

of my soul.