Ego Trippin'
By Nikki Giovanni
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 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 Nefferttiti
the tears from my birth pains created the Nile
I am a beautiful woman Compliments herself
I gazed on a 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! Very Narcissistic
men intone my loving name
All praises - All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my backyard
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 Claims she alone gave oil to the middle east.
I am so hip - even my errors are correct
I sailed east to reach west - 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 ... Bird- Means freedom
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 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 Nefferttiti
the tears from my birth pains created the Nile
I am a beautiful woman Compliments herself
I gazed on a 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! Very Narcissistic
men intone my loving name
All praises - All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my backyard
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 Claims she alone gave oil to the middle east.
I am so hip - even my errors are correct
I sailed east to reach west - 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 ... Bird- Means freedom
An Analysis
To paraphrase, she was on the drug of herself, and imagined what it would be like to be god of everything. She went and became Jesus, drank with Allah, and claimed to create everything the world had today.
Trippin', used in the title, could mean going on a trip, or how one might feel when under the influence of a drug.
This poem is very individualist. It is all about herself, no one else. She is the best according to her.
She even compliments herself at the end of every stanza, shows she has a very large ego.
Satire - Everything was very exaggerated, no one really thinks they are god.
Theme- There is a fine line between Ridiculing/discouraging yourself and Narcissism.
Trippin', used in the title, could mean going on a trip, or how one might feel when under the influence of a drug.
This poem is very individualist. It is all about herself, no one else. She is the best according to her.
She even compliments herself at the end of every stanza, shows she has a very large ego.
Satire - Everything was very exaggerated, no one really thinks they are god.
Theme- There is a fine line between Ridiculing/discouraging yourself and Narcissism.