I Come From the Belly of An Icon- Tribute To Maya Angelou

I am born by an icon I am the result of her acumen In the belly of her mind I grew like a fetus She fed me through her umbilical cord Of her intellect and achievements For the first time I heard her words Full of life and hope They stung me like a mosquito bite I felt the pain of a caged bird Crying for her freedom From that day a poet was born Her wisdom nourished my vision To become the people’s diary That tells the plight of a young girl Who was pinned down by rapists First by the system that marginalized women And by the pervert who failed to keep his zip closed Through all of that she rose mightier With many accolades in her hand A civil right activist Three times Grammy award winner And many honorary degrees She stood before the leaders Who sipped from her breast of wisdom I come from the belly of an icon She taught me to how to rise In her own words she said Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise I come from the belly of an icon Like sunrises in full daylight Her accolade shines very bright She rose to the heights Where universe is forced to notice her From the day I saw her in her glory A poet was born I come from the belly of an icon With the semen of her wisdom I was born.