You stand arrayed in light and color
Proud and regal in sunshine and shower
Trace your scars……
There is beauty in each scar
Timeless beauty in your demeanor
You move in quiet dance and rhythm
Your muscles swaying to the beat of the tom-tom.
Afrika,
You are not what they say you are
You are not what they have done to you
You are not trauma
You are not sin
You are not the bruises on your sun-kissed skin
Or the shards from their hands that strike at your heart.
Don’t you realize the endless, breathless immensity of your beauty?
Don’t you understand the magnitude of your spirit?
Handcrafted with love as one of a kind
Your beauty is your uniqueness
Your confidence even amidst weakness
You are a comet, a fireball in the night sky
You are the moon and constellations combined
Stars spin like a million fireflies in your hair
Moonbeams dance to your embrace
Drawn by the flames, the fire in your coffee- stain gaze
At your command, legions fall.
Afrika, take time alone
To understand you can stand on your own
You were created with built -in independence
To walk fearlessly on your own feet with elegance.
Embrace everything God created
On you the day you were conceived
Wealth and strength
Passion and ability
All you need to reach for your dreams
That is why he sends your way
Tough times in excess
So you can push through each day
With the incredible strength you possess.
Block the voices that whisper that you are deficient
The lies that make you feel insufficient
The lies that taunt
And daunt
So you forfeit
The wonders only you can create.
Let go slowly
Of those you cling to so tightly
Chart your own destination
You are your own validation
So you forfeit
The wonders only you can create.
Let go slowly
Of those you cling to so tightly
Chart your own destination
You are your own validation.
Don’t you remember Afrika,
How you danced in the rain at midnight?
Don’t you recall the tales of legend on Saturday night?
You mattered before they told you
How much they could give you
You had value before they came
You were inspired before their time
You laughed,
You loved
You prayed
Before you learned their names
What you learned from them
Does not define you.
Love yourself Afrika
And proclaim to the world your self- love affair
Say it loud and clear
So they know how majestic you are
Make it loud
An uprising
Once again be proud
For you are rising
Indeed you will rise Afrika
From the ashes in the cauldron they left you to burn
From the abyss in which they pushed you to drown.
