I am

This piece was inspired by Aja Monet’s poem “I am”. It serves as a personal (and poetic) introduction to my essence. You can listen to the live performance delivered in collaboration with Senegalese djembe drummer Talla Seydi, and read along below.

I am

I am

A homegirl homegrown in Harrisburg but birthed in Brooklyn

to Bajans, Jamaicans and bold mamas from Alabama with big mouths, huge hearts and tongues sharp like a machete.

I am the sunset in the Serengeti

the seed of cotton trees sprouted in Sierra Leone.

I am the leaf blown from the shores of Sénégal to Mobile, Brooklyn and back, tracking its way home.

I am the serene sound of the sea, the severing side of the sword

the scent of the sweet acacia, the piercing point of its thorns.

I am a branch of the mighty baobab, borne of seers, sowers, and sorcerers who sought to be unchained and untamed .

I am their sight for sore eyes, the pride of their pain.

I am the defiant descendent of women who made waves, a relentless reminder of their righteous rage.

I am the possessed pen of passed poets, a portal for their ink inscriptions on the page.

I am the relief from a tree offering shade

the gentle touch of a breeze on a bright summer day.

I am the twister, the thunder, the lightening and rain

a transformer traversing troubled terrain.

I am an archive of my ancestors, an architect of alternate worlds

an elemental alchemist, the daughter and the mother of pearl.

 I am the thin veil between realms

the holder of heavens, the healing after hell.

I am the questions we dare not ask, the answers we demand

the siren they couldn't silence, the riddle they didn't understand

I am the date palm produced in desert sands

a delicate flower who found fertile soil in distant lands.

I am the truth that transcends time  

I am the root and the fruit, of a divine vine. 

MEET THE AUTHOR

Shannon Cumberbatch

Welcome to my digital home, where you’ll find insight into my words and world. Write to Resistance is where I record our collective wounds, recovery and resilience through poetic expression. I write intuitively and fluidly, allowing the words and images I receive to flow onto the page without committing to any one convention. For me, this creative process is cathartic, and offers the perfect container for sentiments too heavy for a plain paragraph to hold.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. ✨

READ MORE ABOUT MY STORY →

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