Is it mockery or scorn?

Are these spittle or dripple?

Is this beauty or pain?

Are they for better or for worse?

Silence the laughter cause I am here.

I am a black woman.

I will stand and not mind your guffaws,

Yielding not to the voices of criticism.

To every scar lies a story,

Every flaw a meaning.

Look keenly at my flabby chest,

For I am a black woman.

The bristles on my palms define my strength,

The grey on my hair testament to my wit.

Don't look away,

For I am a black woman.

My flaws are the badges of my victories,

The more my blemish, the more my wins,

My African magic.

For I am a black woman.