Big Black Women Poem by Nangamso Ndikandika

I am a big black woman
Crazy about life and all living
I’m loving and giving where possible
I was born on a beautiful Tuesday morning
Under the stars of Capricorn and Moon of Transkei

I’m just a normal person
Who’s expressive of her thoughts and emotions
I speak of peace love and integrity
You’d think I’m dancing when I walk
Coping the moves of the lion

I look up straight with no fear of the road ahead
For I am courage, hope and success

My life I compare with the river
For it peacefully moves with one objective
Of meeting the sea all in one

The mountain stands still and calm
Not shaken or moved by the rough sound of wind
I am a stranger to this movement
For it takes centuries to complete

I am a light and brown eyed girl
With a figure well described like that of the number 8
I am easy and a loving person
Though not easily understood

My beat can not be perfected
It’s that of an African instrument
Being it not Khora or Imbira
The beat that shakes and moves my soul
Is that, which moves the mountain

Complex I’m defined
Intimidating I’m described
I asked you once “who am I? “
Be ready to read the answer

I am the daughter of Africa
I am who I ought to be
I am the dream and hope of those who lived before me
I am thirsty of something I never drank
I crave for a sweet but bitter taste
I am greedy of knowledge and experience

I am a sister to him
He who is still to discover his true nature
I am a mother to a child not promised
A wife to husband not guaranteed
I am the backbone of a BEE partner
Providing stability and structure
I am courage, wisdom and success

I am an African child