I am (or Kujichagulia)

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  • MayaReid
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I am (or Kujichagulia)

I am

            a Black Woman                     but that didn’t really matter to me til college.

                                It’s becoming more and more important to me every day.

            a lot more self-conscious than most people would ever believe.                   I hide it well.

            young.                      I’ll turn 20 in 33 days.

            a shopaholic                           who never buys anything at full price. Also,

            a scholarship student who spends her money on shopping sprees.

            too stuck in my own ways.                               I hope being a Sociology major will help me see

                through eyes not mine own.

            addicted to music.

            a Princeton student.           I don’t necessarily like the way this makes people think of me.

            more perverted on the inside than most people will ever know.

            an individual who has an apostrophe in her middle name                  and tries doggedly to ignore this.

            deeply conflicted about whether to wear my hair naturally or to iron it straight

                but I am entirely unwilling to kill its beauty with chemicals.

            also unsure if I like that having an afro is making    a              statement.

            single. Still. But even though it sometimes               gets to me          I can really say I’m okay with this.                             Them boys will come around.

            unable to sleep with socks on.

            a lover      not a fighter                       but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight for what I love.

            overweight.           I keep saying I’m going to do something about this                          that usually involves eating cookies.

            learning what it means to have real friends                              and have the best teachers in the world.

            going to make it a point to fall more and more        in love   with myself        every day.

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squadbuddy954 commented on I am (or Kujichagulia)

12-29-2009

The is truly excellent poem. I can say i just about know you haven't met you a day in my life but through that poem I saw a person who just loves her self. Keep writing because I'm here reading

letterpress commented on I am (or Kujichagulia)

12-28-2009

Excellent poem. It really lets the reader see a true glimpse of you. "overweight. I keep saying I’m going to do something about this that usually involves eating cookies." I can really relate to that line. The spaces in your poem also help emphasize your pattern of thought. Almost like you're having a conversation with yourself.

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-English poet and playwright.

MayaReid’s Poems (129)

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Title Comments
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These Things 3
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Let Me Count the Ways 1
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My Best Friend's Wedding 0
Reflection 0
The Writing on the Walls 0
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Drunk Savior 0
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Escape Velocity 2
The Whisper 4
Rocks and Shoeboxes 1
The Day We Almost Kissed 1
Loving and Leaving 0
The String that...Saved Me? 0
The Love of My Life: Take Two 0
The Divorce 0
The Garden of Life 2
Some Things I Know 1
And One for Me? 4
Storms 2
Spider 0
Specks -2
Sorrow 0
Sonnet III 0
Sonnet II 0
Sonnet I 0
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So I Heard In Class Today 0
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So Beautiful 1
She Will be Missed 0
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Rejection 0
Questions 0
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Originality 1
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On Loan from the Universe 0
Nothing But Tomorrows 0
Not to Be 0
Not So Constructive Criticism 0
No One Knows 0
My Wish 0
My Shackles 1
My Friends 0
My Dream Truth -1
My Box 0
Mother Dearest 0
More 0
Mixed Signals 0
Maybe Crazy is Catchin' 0
Maya... 0
Loving You 0
Love 0
Losing Someone 2
Life 0
Letting Herself Love You 0
Faith 0
Kryptonite 1
Just Listen 3
It Seems Like I Can Only... 1
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If the Whole Wide World Was Up to Me 0
If Only 0
I Told You That I Loved You 0
How Did You Get Here? 1
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Growing Up With You 0
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Giving Thanks 0
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For You I Will 0
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Don't Make Me Any Promises 0
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Defining Me 1
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Bloody Love 0
Birthday 1
Between 0
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Band Aids 1
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