A Black Woman was not Made from Ribs of a Man

all the solid materials were used up on creating a man

then God went so poor of hard inventory for creation of a woman

a phenomenal black woman, she was not made from ribs of a man as it

goes the Jewish fable, but from all the turfs of softness on earth’s birthday,

from the softness of feathers, black-ness of ivory and swiftness of a doe

she was made; from the beauty of petals, curliness of the tendrils and

purity of the warm-fire she was made; from patience of vultures,

noise of the ox-pecker and silence of the stone she was made; from

decorum of the pea-hen, accuracy of the kite, strength of the python,

and busybody of the drone she was made; from shyness of warthogs,

elephant’s memory, the avarice of hyena, timidity of a man, poison

of a spider and sweetness of sweet banana she was made;

from slogging of donkeys, the gate crashing scorpion, laziness of a cat,

tomfoolery of a dog, cleanliness of a swine and from decency of the heifer

she was made;
from the irritating smoke, boredom of the cold fire, darkness of the hearth,

dark fashion of the crow, and coiffure of the crane-bird she was made;

from corruption of the post-colony, lies of a Bible-monger, dignity of

a swabber, smallness of a tabor and from want-wit of an ewe she was made;

from endlessness of an abyss, tiredness of a tinker, despair of fortune’s fool

and the oxy-moron of a boomerang she was made; from the innocence of

a choir-girl, swiveling of a lad, honour of a cuckold, mercurial stature of a turtle,

and gifts of the colubrine she was made; from the flame of the bi-curious lass,

a squab’s vulnerability, and armour of the porcupine she was made;

from snobbery of the panjandrum, bulging tummy of tax-man,

slenderness of a rich teacher, fatness of a broke chef, dilemma of nurse

and glory of rex’s a horseman she was made; from proceeds of dowry,

happiness of polygamy, democracy of polyandry, heuristics of

rain-maker and the gender gap of patriarchy she was made,

From virginity of the sand-dunes, hope of oases, oblivion’s

old age, Egypt’s history, ubiquity of a palm-tree, holiness of a Carmel,

thirst of the ocean, wine of the desert, plopping of a stone-fall in the water-pond

staidness of the disturbed river, diversity of nature, empathy of circumcizors knife,

fresh redness of ripe pepper pods, sexy calligraphy of oily soup, the inferno of true love

and inclusive honesty of a queen bee she was made, a black-woman.

Alexander Opicho writes From Lodwar, Kenya [email protected]