I Am Her Son Poem by Nkululeko Mdudu

I am, to my family; a son, a brother, a grandson.
I am, to my people; a neighbor and a friend.
I call upon the spirits on the horizon,
and they allow some knowledge to descend...

I look up to the presence that is me,
and I tell myself of all the things i could be:

I am STATUS!
I am part of the societies that ceate US.

My life is what I and others have made it;
I am simply a part of it.

I tell myself of this,
being certain that nothing remains amiss:

I am the great hair of the sky;
working while i wait, with nothing to deny
me of what is my destiny,
And sure as well that I should die!

I am a miner; no a maid;
I am a scholar, my witts sharp as a blade.

I am a painter with black ink on hand;
I am all that is sacred to this land.

I am to my community, all that i've done;
But to my mother, I am still her son.