To Be A Poetess (For Chinyere)

You ask me
What it is to be a poet
The fact that
I can come back
To tell you this way
Says
To me
That I am a poet-ess
Nothing less
Than express
And precise
Expounding through verses and rhyme
Been doing this a long time
First tried my hand at 7
After Maya Angelou's biography
Her life said something to me
A shy little overweight only child Black girl
I had something to contribute to the world
Without opening her mouth
I could weigh my words to pick the heaviest
So my words & poetry sounds the best
I would say that I claimed my poet-essness
At 18
I became a woman poet
For a poet could be any gender
Realizing who I am
Reflects what I write
So I think it's only right
That I call me as I completely am
Any more questions, fam?