Blessed is the Free Spirit – A Kwansaba

Blessed is the Free Spirit

My only son stands tall and strong
and more like me than I know
Working hard for his own self esteem
The wealth of love’s labors is shared
I cherish his first gift to me
Furry rabbit’s foot that still brings luck
A little gypsy in his old soul


Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved


Grace is hosting the final D'Verse Poets for this year.
The pub will reopen on January 3rd.
She has prompted us with the Kwansaba.

Kwansaba is an African American verse form of praise. The Kwansaba, (swahili kwan – first fruit / saba -principle) was created in 1995 by Eugene B Redmond, East St. Louis Poet Laureate and professor of English at Southern Illinois University-East St. Louis. The form was developed in honor of the celebration of Kwanzaa . The poetic form adopts the number 7 from Kwanzaa’s Nguzo Saba (7 principles) as well as embraces its roots in the South African tradition of the Praise Poem.

*Unity, family
*Self Determination
*Work Collectively
*Cooperative economics
*Purpose
*Creativity
*Faith

The defining features of Kwansaba are:

1.a celebration of family and African-American culture, a praise poem.
2.a septastich, a poem in 7 lines.  (To be clear, it is only 1 stanza).
3. measured by 7 words in each line.
4. written with no word exceeding 7 letters.