Sojourner Truth photographed by Randall Studio c. 1870. (National Portrait Gallery; Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)
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Sojourner: Daughter of Eden
She glides
dark angel
White wings strike
reddened sky
Bronze arms
braided hair
words like garland
in wind
She breathes, “Ain’t I . . .”
Eyes fixed fire
Tight pupils now ashen fists
A cavernous mouth
pours, “Ain’t I . . .”
Curved body
An anointed rib
Adam’s seed
broken, dropped
A secular womb cries, “Ain’t I . . .”
Thunder mounts
Lightning sears new horizons
Women sing purple songs
now, forever
to themselves
Ain’t I a Woman?
Note: This poem was previously published in All the Songs We Sing: Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective (Blair, 2020).
Gina – I’m leaving a clinical c at Duke Hospital and noticed your poem on the wall. I stopped to take it in and was overwhelmed by its beauty— cadence and imagery balanced to move even the silliest heart. Thank you for sharing your gift. You are truly blessed!