Queen Nzinga's Army

By Kalamu ya Salaam

the Portuguese found it

hard to believe that there

was a woman leading this resistance

pushing them back toward the sea

the Portuguese wondered

when she menstruated or cried

maybe she was a stone virgin

who never "succumbed to man"

this fighting woman

did not square with the females

they had left behind

their vaginas in chains

didn't their breasts get in

the way of arms?

how could women be so effective

hand to hand?

one young soldier stood and died dumb,

uncontrollably soiling himself

as the sharp spear entered

and exited his bowels

there fell a young man

who could not comprehend the reality,

except by personal death experience,

that women can be warriors

women can be warriors

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