Black Women

Too strong, too bold, too old to be told what to do
I’m young, where do I come from?
How come I can’t chase the sun
Is something chasing me
My identity, I just want to be free

Seeing the leaves blow amongst the trees
But the thieves, they try to come and take my joy away
Day by day I pray
That justice will be given another name
Such as sweet, a rose, darker than chocolate, sweeter than fruit

Whose fruit will bear the truth
Will I tell the truth
Will I unearth my soul
And behold the lion and lamb

The babies in the pram, they cry
And I see mother pacing, walking by
Holding both comfort and pain
And the shame rains down
When the hours grow too long and the night too still

I need to be still, until
The day breaks the light of dawn
The coming sun upon my tongue
I sing, I scream, look at me now

My brow, my hair, my lips, my skin
To be woman, to be Black, to be free
To dwell in the posterity of the seasons to come
For girls to laugh, to sit in the bathtub of love
And drown all the heartache away

So sip on the melody, the reciprocity
Of eternal friendship is my sisterhood
I claim one hood
And not the one that buried my grandmother’s mother

Come hide and stay under His bosom, I lay
I breathe
Because to be me is to be a Black woman who is free