Listen to those little voices
They scream, the cherish, they appreciate
Breaks my heart, their genuineness
So innocent, so real - sounds ecclesiastical.
Like a holy song – a love sonnet
Thank you Momma Oprah – thank you momma
I wouldn’t thank you better momma
You are my black Queen – Ngosikadzi
You are an African Queen.

Sitting on your crown - a heavenly heart
That none other can match, you
Have beat all odds – exceeded all expectations
Putting smiles on the poor and not so poor, you
Been a bridge across bloodied rivers
A shining beacon of an invisible race
You have inspired a generation, but
All said and done, you are right there
In the cradle of every heart
You are Momma Africa – Ngosikadzi.
You are a black Queen.

You have walked where none other has
You uprooted your own darkness, cuddled it in your palms
You saw sunshine where all saw darkness
You sowed your seed of hope’ you
Watered it with your own tears of love
That tree you planted, will grow momma
Under its foliage, a new Africa will find shade
A generation – forgotten and forsaken
Will rise from the ashes of humanity
To adore your majestic heartland – raise it higher
Our own Royal majesty – Black Queen
Mother of Africa – Nkosikadzi.

Like all the greatest of humans
You shun the accolades – but this one
I write not for your ears Momma
This is for your big heart Nkosikadzi
Let me call you the great Lady King
Borrowing from my Shona folk lore, let me thank

You in prose, as said by the greatest of men
Maita Mambokadzi (Thank you lady king)
Vachirera nherera (care giver of orphans)
For in you they see no celebrity,
Just a mother – their greatest Angel
On whose breasts they will suckle for life.
In their hearts and from their hearts
They say the greatest prayer for you, which
No pastor nor congregation can match
Their simple heart song – thank you
Thank you momma Oprah, thank you momma
You are a black Queen, my African queen.

Up and above the legacy of a black folk
You stand right there with the greatest of all humans
No chapter in our history will be complete
Where your name will be blotted
Toe to toe you tread the footsteps of the greatest
David Walker, Mariah Stewart – could easily be forgotten
Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X - of cause
You are the greatest ‘Momma Africa”
I will declare you in the Sainthood of the Black, when
All is said and done, but for now let me say
Long live our Black Queen, Aluta Continua
Hail to the African Queen, Nkosikadzi – lady King
God bless our Africa.