Black Woman

A complex beautiful mystery aching to be discovered for her true self
Carrying past pains, disappointments, abuse, and stress in her soul depth
Spirit of hope, thoughts of wonder, seeker of peace, passionate for love
Soul of her children, confident speaker, driven for the above

Skin smooth as caramel and warm chocolate
in various shades of brown that ages immaculate
Always stereo-typed by her many curves and kinky hair
Touch it? Absolutely not! Don’t you dare!

Often smeared by her own, them, those, and others
desperately trying to or not to be her mother
Shoulders holding the weight of her children’s dreams
Breaking her bones struggling to fill the seams

Looking back over her children’s lives
hoping she nurtured enough to help them strive.
Praying that one is not six feet under before her end of time
Knows that when they walk across the stage her goal she finds

Always loving to the core, unappreciated, and more
Often ending up holding her heart in her hands heading for the door
Praying for the knight to save her from herself
wishing it was as easy as picking him from the shelf

Exhausted from being misunderstood, dismissed, and underestimated
using these multiple negatives to keep her motivated
Cries in the dark because her pain is so deep
waiting for the next time to take another leap

Sometimes with attitude dealing with those spreading the rude
Down deep she is beautiful, gentle, loving, and kind in her true mood
Empathetic, encouraging, uplifting she can be
proud, driven, and powerful unapologetically

Boldly proving her intelligence and creativity
with lack of encouragement constantly using adaptability
Resilient on her way up the ladder to better she will make them see
that she just wanted to be seen by those who see everyone but we