I Am a Mirror (Monday Poem)

by Nikki Giovanni


I am a mirror.

I reflect the grace
Of my mother
The tenacity
Of my grandmother
The patience
Of my grandfather
The sweat
Of my great-grandmother
The hope
Of my great-grandfather
The songs
Of my ancestors
The prayers
Of those on the auction block
The bravery
Of those in the middle passage

I reflect the strengths
Of my people
And for that alone
I am loved.



from  I Am Loved
by Nikki Giovanni
2018, Atheneum