Art Proud Girl Culture by Rosalee Regalado. Poem: Ghana’s Lioness: An African Queen by Valdez Hill

From the artists:

I created a charcoal painting titled “Proud Girl Culture” and showed it at an art exhibition in March. I received a call from the Art Gallery asking if the painting was still for sale because a poet had seen it back in March and written a poem about it. Here is the very inspiring and beautiful poem by Valdez Hill.

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Art: Proud Girl Culture by Rosalee Regalado

Poem: Ghana’s Lioness: An African Queen by Valdez Hill

Ghana’s Lioness: An African Queen

 

Within the heart of the Serengeti, a teeming ocean of life

Where the savanna grasslands give way to desert sands

And the wind whispers across patched earth, a story unfolds etched in color and soul.

 

She was born in the center of the world

A Queen among her people

A young lioness nurtured by the land and her people until adulthood, a sable-skin sister

A Ghanaian daughter born of obsidian blood

Her life was a promise of new hope for her people.

 

A unifying force, a bond that held her people together, including family and friends

A Queen in a sea of umbra soldiers, with threads of love and honesty

A needle of hope stitching together the frayed edges of shared stories

By the power of vulnerability and nourished through heartfelt understanding.

Born with the beauty of the divine, her power not only resided on the surface.

But inside her cimmerian skin, fearless, resilient, and confident

She carried the wisdom of the old

Her heart as deep as ancient trees, a soul as radiant as sunrise

Her spirit as vibrant as the sunset

A smile like a full moon rising, her voice like spun sugar.

 

Tall and slender, her neck and arms well-defined, a giraffe’s grace in her stride

Skin, a chocolate kiss, evoking warmth and richness, her face a tawny radiance, sun-kissed and warm

Lips, a delicious red-orange peach, eyes like diamonds lost in the stars

Lashes waving midnight, a hint of gray above her eyes.

Argent earrings fall from her ears, a silver family heirloom draped around her neck

Ivory spheres flowing in harmony, a simple silver metallic cuff encircling her slender arm

Hair hidden beneath her scarf, her turban more than beautiful

Grayest ultramarine with ivory sequins, a symbol profound

Showing her culture and identity, roots as deep as the Nile

Her dress was held by a shell brooch, interlaced with black, gray, and ochre

Alabaster dots bordering each color, elongated ovals in between.

 

A Queen often walks a lonely road, but the journey of sisterhood is sacred

A testament to strength and resilience, bonds unbreakable and unshakeable

Built on honesty and bound by love

Shadowiness remains forever strong, standing together in power.

 

-Valdez Hill