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Poems - Woman of Color
| | Woman of Colorby chameleon
Hey, there, Nubian princess!
You there, Zulu chieftain’s daughter!
African sister, Caribbean queen,
child of the desert and mountain and plain
daughter of Islam, Yangtsze's sister
born of the river, the forest, the street
You are beautiful.
The poets and the singers
sing your praises
and I see that
You carry within you
the grace of the river
the smooth of cafe au lait
the majesty of the velvet night sky
the sweetness of forbidden rum.
I have listened and I hear
the echo of the drumbeats
in your footsteps. I have looked
and I see a panther move
in the sinuous curve of your spine.
The shamans sing your songs
and I have listened
and I have heard
and I have seen
that you are
beautiful. And I
am not unbeautiful, though
I fit your standards no better
than you fit theirs. I grew up knowing that
my hair is too kinky, my skin too dark
my lips too full, my curves too lush
my strength too threatening
But I am not unbeautiful. The sun
strikes sparks of fire in my hair and my lips
are stained with the grapes
my grandmother trod for wine. My eyes
take their color from the olives that grew
outside her home. Inside my skin, my blood
is no less red than yours, and it sings
the rhythm of the river Po, the lullaby
of the sea at the center of the earth. My body
moves to the song of panpipes and the beat
of a goatskin drum. My hands
are descended from those that coaxed
smooth, muscled curves from the angles of
cold, hard stone.
I am a daughter of Dionysus, a child of the childless
White Goddess. My great great great great great grandmother
danced her praise beneath the Ephesian moon -
was it not the same moon that coaxed your foremothers
out into the night to celebrate their beauty -
cinnamon and ebony, honey and mahogany,
gold, ivory, bisque -
all gleaming and beautiful beneath a silver moon?
There is but one moon, one dance, one goddess
but there are an infinite number of beautifuls.
Join the dance, take my hand, dare..
yes, dare…
to tell your daughters - each and
every one that
you
are
beautiful
because we
are.
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| "Woman of Color" | Login/Create an Account | 14 |
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| The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
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This is a beautiful
(Score: 1 )
by poetrocks on Thursday, May 10, 2007 (00:10:18) |
This is a beautiful poem.
 |
this is a beautiful
(Score: 1 )
by Rax on Friday, May 11, 2007 (00:42:19) |
this is a beautiful poem written by a beautiful poet. We are beautiful 
 |
Technically Solid -
(Score: 1 )
by greygrynn on Monday, May 14, 2007 (12:04:19) |
Technically Solid - Sublime Imagery and Voice - Enjoyed this one very much
 |
Powerful write. I h
(Score: 1 )
by vexations on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 (10:05:46) |
Powerful write. I had a little trouble with "I am not unbeautiful" yet overall the poem "works"
 |
Very nice. Excellen
(Score: 1 )
by oldschooldetroit on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 (12:21:43) |
Very nice. Excellent visuals, creates a nice picture in my mind!
 |
With peace and respe
(Score: 1 )
by Skylark on Monday, June 11, 2007 (21:18:04) |
With peace and respect I salute the poet's pen for this very fine write titled WOMAN OF COLOR.
Midnight Skylark Aberjhani
 |
" "
(Score: 1 )
by George on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 (17:21:53) |
" "
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Ignore the skinhead
(Score: 1 )
by svartalf on Thursday, June 28, 2007 (11:54:11) |
Ignore the skinhead that voted a 1 on this- the person's not quite all there.
 |
lovely wordplay and
(Score: 1 )
by mamta on Saturday, February 23, 2008 (00:50:12) |
lovely wordplay and descriptions.
 |
i have fav. this poe
(Score: 1 )
by anna9 on Thursday, April 03, 2008 (05:31:25) |
i have fav. this poem and i love the vibrant positive
sensual nature of this poem .
 |
"daughter of Islam,
(Score: 1 )
by Helen on Thursday, April 03, 2008 (06:42:55) |
"daughter of Islam, Yangtsze's sister
born of the river
I am a daughter of Dionysus, a child of the childless
White Goddess
There is but one moon, one dance, one goddess
but there are an infinite number of beautifuls.
Join the dance, take my hand, dare..
yes, dare…
to tell your daughters - each and
every one that
you
are
beautiful
because we
are. "
I like this poem, not because of it's celebration of women of color, but because within it deeply sits another meaning ( for me anyway) ...................... ALL WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL !
 |
"daughter of Islam,
(Score: 1 )
by chameleon on Thursday, April 03, 2008 (07:32:44) |
Thanks, Helen - yes, that is precisely the message of the poem - that we are all beautiful, and it's time for us to claim our beauty as a birthright that we can give to our daughters.
 |
Re: "daughter of Islam,
(Score: 1 )
by 1angrynative on Saturday, September 03, 2011 (11:24:07) |
I love this poem. It's emotive and I can relate. lovely.
|
Wow. "Unbeautiful" i
(Score: 1 )
by Rio on Saturday, June 28, 2008 (17:34:42) |
Wow. "Unbeautiful" is not a word, but you made me believe it is. This is such a powerful write.
 Added on: 09-May-2007 | Hits: 2124 |
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01: dav.smith
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