Please share this extraordinary collection of poems for children ( and the adults who love them) written by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by Ashley Bryan. Nikki Giovanni is a national treasure. She has written several other collections of poems for children, as well as many collections of poems for adults. Ashley Bryan is one of premier children’s book illustrators working today. See more of his work at the Ashley Bryan Center https://ashleybryancenter.org/
I didn’t feel comfortable reading the poem I am a Mirror. Since the poem encourages the reader to write their own poem reflecting on the sources of love in one’s life ( there is an actual mirror in the artwork for the poem), I rewrote the poem to reflect the sources of love in my own life. Here is the Nikki Giovanni original
I am a mirror
I reflect the grace
Of my mother
The tenacity
Of my grandmother
The patience
Of my grandfather
The sweat
Of my great-grandmother
The hope
Of my great-grandfather
The songs
Of my ancestors
The prayers
Of those on the auction block
The bravery
Of those in the middle passage
I reflect the strengths
Of my people
And for that alone
I am loved
