The Black Girl Who Was Born a Lotus
I came into this world,
Head first, eyes wide,
Fists clenched as I took my first cry,
Mama’s tears falling like rain from a
heavy-laden-sky
Mm
She took me back home with little to spare,
But my, oh my, how my mama’s love and hope were always there
By society’s standards, I was born in the mud,
But they didn’t see my roots stretching deep,
Searching for something more than the muck and mire that was around me
Refusing to accept adversity and struggle as my reality
I was a black girl with dreams more infinite than the universe itself,
A black girl who learned early how to make my own way,
How to weave hope into my hands and make it sing.
The world told me “no” in ways too many to count-
But I, oh, I made a symphony of yes,
With my spine straight and my chin high,
and the fullness of my lips, the breadth of my nose,
Carrying the strength of my ancestors who never bowed low.
