The Poet

Born in a shack.
Denied an education by racism.
I also toiled the red clay of Mississippi.
I followed my husband north to the promised land,
A land of false promises.

I am a scrub woman.
Ain’t I a woman?
Didn’t I build this country?

I settled in your ghettoes.
Your teachers taught me, “My children couldn’t learn.
They will fill our jails.
They will be nobody.”
I taught them to be somebody.
I taught right from wrong.
I taught them dignity amidst poverty.
I taught them to shake the shackles of racism.
I taught my children to sail against the wind.
Never shall they be cannon fodder for your unjust wars.
They shall not hang as strange fruit from your trees.

I am a scrub woman.
Ain’t I a woman?
Didn’t I build this country?

With a smile, I caught your buses to the suburbs.
With a smile, I scrubbed your floors.
With a smile, I cleaned your toilets.
With a smile, I washed your kids’ asses.
With a smile, I scoured your kitchens.
You can steal my wealth.
You cannot steal my smile.

I am a scrub woman.
Ain’t I a woman?
Didn’t I build this country?

After toiling in your kitchens,
I went home to toil in my own kitchen.
Yes, I was the best cook in the family.
My fried chicken, my gingerbread cake, my sweet potato pies
Were the best, bar none
Though a scrub woman,
I am a woman.
Yes, I built this nation.

You can steal my wealth, my furniture, my house.
You cannot steal my heart.
You cannot steal my spirit.
You cannot steal my smile.

My spirit will live on in my children and in my children’s children unborn.
In my last hours, I feel no bitterness.
I embrace death with a kiss, a smile.
Death will end my suffering.
Death will bring me peace.
I have fought the good life.
I will not bow my head.

Though a scrub woman,
I am a woman.
I built this nation.