L. Douglas Wilder
Chuck D
Barbara Reynolds

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 only glows every one hundred years falls
          into the center giving divine perfect light
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
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
          the tears from my birth pains
          created the nile
I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned
          out the sahara desert
          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

          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
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
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save

I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
          the filings from my fingernails 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 west to reach east and had to round off
          the 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
          except by my permission

I mean . . . I . . . can fly
          like a bird in the sky . . .