By Malcolm Little Black
I’m grateful for the rays of the sun
Dancing daily upon my coffee skin.
Grateful for the gift of melanin.
Grateful that being black is not a sin.
I’m grateful for the time of the rains,
For the sensation it brings to my soul.
And for the times my heart was broken;
The love that healed and made me whole.
I’m grateful for the nights I struggled,
And the troubles on the bed of yesterday.
From ashes of despair rose the courage
And the confidence I call mine today.
I’m grateful for the bitter taste of failure,
For the blisters that infested my tongue.
And the lessons life teaches so well
Laced my faith and made me strong.
I’m very grateful for the gift of life
For the life I lived, and the life yet to be.
And for a life cordoned by grace,
Gratitude has found a nest in me
