Tribute to the angels

She is beautiful, she is brown, she is dark, she is divine.
She is more than her curly hair and thick lips, she is so fine.
Strong as a cup of black coffee, sweet as honey, as delicate as a butterfly.
Her curves are lethal, her body is gracious: she is a perfection that doesn’t even try.
She smiles with her eyes, encourages with her touch, emboldens with her words.
She is African, American, Caribbean, she is ethnic, she is genuine.
I see her on the streets, in class, & even on television; I see her in my niece who is almost nine.
She has borne me, nursed me and raised me,
She has been my sister, my lover, and my most beloved enemy.

She enlightens me and craddles me in the bosom of her understanding.
In the echos of the past her voice gives me courage, tells me to keep going.
She is a self made heroine, a thinker,a fighter, a friend.
She rises above her circumstances,  she hopes and dreams & when she loves, it is to the end.

She is ambitious, she is motivated, she is the heat within the flame.

The embodiment of what is wild and exciting, she may be reserved at times but she will never be tame.
She is precious, and important,  she is just as much royalty as was Cleopatra.
I will raise my daughter on this theme, her sovereignty shall be her mantra.
To the world she is just a black woman, but to me she’

s a brown angel.

Father…

Daddy,

You have shown me how to be strong when weakness would have been easier,

You have taught me to believe when it would have been easier to doubt,

You have shown me how to trust in matters where to do so seemed foolish,

You have helped me hope in an uncertain future & dispelled the clouds of apprehension.

Yours has been so much more than an example, It has been a life lesson.

Thank you for having been my daddy.

finally, resting in peace…26.01.14

Dear Mama

I’ve honored all the women in my life in poetry but one.
Not because I forgot, but because this was a challenge to which I had yet to rise.
Whenever I have a heavy heart she’s there to advise,
All I rely on in my life I have because she took the compromise.
For everything you’ve done for me I’m grateful-even the french fries.
You’ve kept me going mile after mile,
Thanks to your presence the journey’s been worthwhile.
You keep telling me I have the potential to go higher, to fly.
And I miss you with every day that passes by.
You taught me how to pray, and on Him to rely,
Not just for future money supply, but to get through by and by.
Through your actions you show me that love is a gift from above,
That the precious moments we have are not to be squandered on petty qualms,
This you showed me as we read through the book of psalms.
Kwandiri nguvadzamakuseni dzakakosha,
Neidzinguva makantidzidzisa kuvinga mwari mukunamata.
The heritage you have given me is an inheritance of divine nature.
A culture cultivated in the message of The Word.
Zuva igore rinodoka rava nemarevo mavi namavuya,
Therefore I won’t let this day go by without letting you know how much I love you!
The 9 months seem nothing compared to the 22 years that followed after,
We have gone from being joined by an umbilical to being joined by a deeper heartfelt cord of love.
Mai musuva usingasehwi mumuto,
Never will I take you for granted, never dishonour you.
I thank you, I love you, I honor you.