"Ego-Tripping" (there may be a reason) 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
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant
He gave me Rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on
My son Noah built New/Ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
As we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
Jesus
Men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
The filings from my fingernails are
Semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the Arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
The earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
Across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean...I...can fly
Like a bird in the sky
The cross-cultural references are fascinating here. An escape to all of these dreams....across the world...so much speak of moving, of traveling, of flying...maybe she is a women who cannot move much? Who is elderly and can no longer travel? Like the title mentions, there could be a reason...maybe she dreamed it all in her sleep and her sleep and wake now collide!
ReplyDeleteI have been reading the Sleep Revolution and it has reminded me now of the fascinations of sleeping and dreaming interpretations and purposes. Such a tremendous subject of health and "connection" muhahaahaha connections to other worlds such as these listed in this poem!!!
I love the title. Not just God's ego, but our ego that our God is more authentic than the other Gods.
ReplyDeleteThe ending is funny too, an extra little jab at our ego. We can understand God because God allows us.