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 a beautiful woman
I gazed on 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 new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even 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...
As an African American woman, Nikki Giovanni has written many revolutionary poems reflecting on the culture and heritage of her race. Spending much of her youth growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, Giovanni’s childhood has greatly influenced her writing. Nikki Giovanni, (Yolande Cornelia Giovanni is her given name) was born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville Tennessee. Giovanni set up her own publishing company and published her very first collection of poems, Black Feeling, Black Talk. Since then Giovanni has written many powerful poems and collections, as well as a few albums of her poems recorded to gospel music. One of these recorded albums, “Truth is on its way”, was chosen Best Spoken Album by the National Association of Radio and Television Announcers in 1972.
This is a narrative because Giovanni talks about her person life and her experience with life. A narrative poem is a story or account of events, experiences.
In the poem Giovanni talks about being a perfect goddess and not letting anyone talk down to her or talk bad about her. She calls herself a gazelle, a gazelle is known to be the fast animal ever. The gazelle can out run its predators and stay alive longer. What Giovanni means by this is that she will not let any one who doesn't agree with her hold her back. She will do anything she can to get away from all the negativity and strive to be all she can be. Since Giovanni is African American and proud to be she embraces it by writing about her who she is and where she is from.
I chose this photo of an African American goddess because she a beautiful woman that is strong. A lot of people would praise her because she stands strong for what she believes in.