An Ode To This African Woman

I'm beautiful because I'm me

Not because of my outward appearance or that which you see

I am beautiful to me across a room of crowd of strangers

I catch the eye

Perfect strangers drawn to me

Babies to me attach

And smile

They see the beauty that is me

I may not embody that which is traditional

But I'm beautiful you see

My nose not small nor straight

Nor turned up just so

For a painter's palette

Yet my beauty attracts none-the -less

Men would you see defile

Insult and degrade

Because beauty to them reflects

Not what's on the inside but that which is without

My face may bear the scars of Years

And tells the story of hardship and endurance

But I am beautiful none the less

My body bears the years of toil

Worn out from a Mothers love and concern

For those at her breast

I am Woman born to endure

Made to sacrifice life and strength

A Woman's pride

The Children I nurse who at my feet

Held onto limbs and clothes and begged for attention

I hold them dear and they see the beauty within

The beauty that within me surges

Rises and overwhelms

No one needs see but me

That I'm beautiful just being me.

Written in 2010 People are cruel, I am a Woman born, there is an assumption I had surgeries to enhance my features, I always joke that I get it from my Maternal Grandmother. No facelift, just sleep and exercise when I can squeeze it in between (FBI surveillance) and Family pranks. The FBI thingy a joke of course.

Copyright clause: As it pertains to all written work Copyright Laws and plagiarism Laws applies cannot be copied or used in part or totality without giving credence to the Author as it stands under intellectual property laws.