From: Griots

... We were just ordinary people
trying to make sense of
our lives , and for that I thank my grandparents. I'm lucky that I had the sense to listen and the heart to care;
I'm glad they talked into the night,
sitting in the glider on the front porch, Grandmother munching on fried fish and Grandpapa eating something sweet I am glad I understand
that while language is a
gift, listening is a respon-
sibility. There must always
be griots... else how would
we know who we are.

Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni
Poet / Writer / Educator

From Ego Tripping
(there had to be a reason)

I was born in the Congo
I walked to the fertile crescent
and build the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that
a star
that only glows every one hundred
years falls
into the center giving divine perfect
light
I am bad...
childhood remembrances are
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