stonepicnicking_okapi

I could not find cut-and-paste versions of poems by Nikki Giovanni I wanted to post more. My bundle of poetry books from the library included her Make me Rain: Poems and Prose. And I wanted to post "Song of Myself" and "Quilts" (not to be confused with her older poem also called "Quilts" which is readily available online). 

Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why) by Nikki Giovanni

I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
    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

I sat on the throne
    drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
    to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
    the tears from my birth pains
    created the nile
I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned
    out the sahara desert
    with a packet of goat's meat
    and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
    so swift you can't catch me