Ego Tripping
Nikki Giovanni
I was born in the Congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built the Sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that glows every one hundred years falls into
the center giving divine perfect light 5
I AM BAD
I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with Allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe
to cool my thirst. 10
My oldest daughter is Nefferttiti
the tears from my birth pains created the Nile
I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on a forest and burned out the
Sahara Desert 15
With a packet of goat’s meat
and a change of clothes -
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift -
so swift - you can’t catch me 20
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant -
He gave me Rome for Mother’s Day
My strength flows ever on
My son Noah built new/ark and 25
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself -
and was Jesus!
men intone my loving name 30
All praises - All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my backyard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails 35
are semi-precious jewels
On a trip north I caught a cold and blew my nose
giving oil to the Arab world
I am so hip - even my errors are correct
I sailed east to reach west - and had to round off the 40
earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents
I am so perfect, so divine, so ethereal, so surreal
I cannot be comprehended 45
except by my permission
I mean ... I ... can fly
like a bird in the sky ...
Glendale Community College | 1500 North Verdugo Road, Glendale, California 91208 | Tel: 818.240.1000
GCC Home © 2022 - Glendale Community College. All Rights Reserved.