They asked me,
how can I raise a Queen
when I’ve never been one myself?
Low self-esteem
Had me sleeping with more than just one
Counting 5 kids later, with fathers on leave
How could I conceive
or grab the essence,
of such a royal presence?
To teach a child watching
With a brain like a sponge
When I’ve plunged into
hell and came back with demons
ran with heathens
and whores
and had to fight them too.
They ask how can I possibly
Without awkwardly
Being hypocritical
Teach a girl to be a Queen
without it seeming
fictional.
When I didn’t love myself
Till my health compromised
And I couldn’t be myself
So I wore a disguise
And guys would take advantage
I spent days getting faded
How can I teach her to love,
when I’m so jaded?
How can I teach her to value herself,
more than gold
when I was walking around pregnant at 15 years old?
And they ask me these questions as if I can’t provide an answer
Trying to spread their negative vibes like cancer
But I sit back and smile
While never minding their critique
Wait for the questions to stop
And then I proceed to speak.
Yeah I’ve ran the streets,
with the good, bad, and evil
it’s taught me to recognize the plight of my people
laid with more than one man
and brought life to creation
it showed me to perfect the art
of building a nation.
Not to mention, the disguise I wore
It benefitted me because
It forced me to look inside myself
To find out who I was
I ran with the hardest criminals
Thugs and all
Taught me how to live my life
Based on Universal Law
Taught me how we all have flaws
And I know she watched me struggle
Watched me get hurt
Taught her how to be resilient
When she watched me rise from the dirt
taught her how to love herself first
you see I’ve never failed
I’ve only learned life’s lessons
And used them to avail
I teach her everything I learn in life
And how to chase her dreams
don’t let the obstacles intervene,
that’s how I raise a Queen.
-Hatshepsut Amun Re