now i add you,
little love, little
flower,
who walked unannounced
into my life
and almost blossomed there.
■
sam, jr.
blood of my mothers blood.
blood of my father
spilling onto the coverlet,
when you are dry this boy
my father watched
running through virginia fields
will be again a dream.
i thought i saw, he said,
a baby boy
running and laughing as he ran
and so i knew that i
would make a son. or break him
brother, and he almost did
but now you smile and bleed
the only blood i share
while i sit watching you run
to our parents there dreamlike
in a field.
■
MOTHER HERE IS MY CHILD
Here is a wreath that skips among the chimneys
flinging flowers
a daughter of the blood.
See she spies the heartsease you blossom
and calls me.
She calls me by your name.
A proper gift,
Sidney among the flowers
adorning you, being by you adorned.
■
Poem To My Yellow Coat
today i mourn my coat.
my old potato.
my yellow mother.
my horse with buttons.
my rind.
today she split her skin
like a snake,
refusing to excuse my back
for being big
for being old
for reaching toward other
cuffs and sleeves.
she cracked like a whip and
fell apart,
my terrible teacher to the end;
to hell with the arms you want
she hissed,
be glad when you’re cold
for the arms you have.
■
Poem With Rhyme
i was born yes.
i don’t know why.
i have been hated for it,
laughed at,
i have cried, me and my
black yes.
affirmation.
i wonder why i do it,
i can only guess i was
born to it. yes. yes. yes.
■
Rounding the curve near Ellicot City
another raccoon dead, his tail raised high
like a flagpole. Or was she a woman,
striped our sister, trying to reach Oella
which never changes? And did we charge,
my daughters and I, around the bend,
an army of fearless women wrapped in tin?
And does her tail, silent and stiff, signal Danger?
We feel around us, in Ellicot City, the accusation
of a forest of patchy eyes.
■
entering earth
the door is bone
push through
you will be
dressed in blood
rise up
and wobble off
toward cavalry
the ground time here
will be brief
before you remember
your actual name
you will have rattled
back to bone
hover above
the ivory gate
hold your body
in your hands
the ground time here
is brief
drop your framework down
and fly
it has fed you
it will feed your friends
■
to black poets
just cause you don’t see me
don’t mean i aint there.
when you be together
reading
and being together
and you feel something soft
rubbing you just like sisterskin
don’t turn off please,
thats me.
■
quartz lake, Alaska
deep autumn, and all the tourists have gone
south with the geese and fickle sun
only those things remain which can bear
the frown of winter: the ice stars,
the raven, the moon, and this solitude,
keeping their long faith with forsaken things.
the lake turns its cold face,
is no one’s mirror,
and the sky pouts back,
everything wakes and sleeps in forest time,
to the soft drum of wind
among the pines, to the snow forever falling and
the long dark bringing its constellations,
bright cruciforms against the sky
lighting the quiet way on snow
for winter migrations of caribou,
or wolf, or phantom grief moving out
and away in a silent
ritual of passage
■
Index of Poems
The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
africa
after kent state
after the children died she started bathing
alabama 9/15/63
All Praises
amazons
Anniversary 5/10/74
apology
april
as he was dying
astrologer predicts at mary’s birth, the
atlantic is a sea of bones
at last we killed the roaches
auction street
august
august the h
aunt jemima
begin here
being property once myself
birth-day
birthday 1999
blake
blessing the boats
blood
bouquet
breaklight
brothers
ca’line’s prayer
cancer
chemotherapy
children
cigarettes
coming of fox, the
cream of wheat
cruelty. don’t talk to me about cruelty
cutting greens
daughters
dear fox
death of fred clifton, the
death of joanne c., the
death of thelma sayles, the
december 1989
dialysis
dream of foxes, a
each morning i pull myself
earth
earth is a living thing, the
11/10 again
entering earth
entering the south
enter my mother
evening and my dead once husband
Everytime i talk about
februrary 1980
1st, the
5/23/67 R.I.P.
flowers
for deLawd
further note to clark
fury
generations
gift, the
God send easter
grief
hag riding
hands
harriet
heaven
here yet be dragons
hometown 1993
am accused of tending to the past
am running into a new year
if i should
if i stand in my window
if mama
“i’m going back to my true identity”
in populated air
in salem
in the evenings
in the meantime
In the middle of the Eye
in the mirror
in the same week
in white america
i once knew a man
island mary
it was a dream
was born in a hotel
was born with twelve fingers
went to the valley
jasper texas 1998
june
killing of the trees, the
last note to my girls
lately
leaving fox
leda 1
leda 2
leda 3
lesson of the falling leaves, the
leukemia as white rabbit
libation
light
LIGHT
listen children
lorena
lost baby poem, the
lost women, the
lucy and her girls
lucy one-eye
lumpectomy eve
man and wife
mary mary astonished by God
memphis
message of jo, the
message of thelma sayles, the
mississippi river empties into the gulf, the
miss rosie
MOTHER HERE IS MY CHILD
mother, i am mad
mother’s story, the
mother-tongue: the land of nod
mother-tongue: we are dying
move
mulberry fields
my dream about the cows
my dream about the second coming
my friends
my mama moved among the days
my poem
new bones
new orleans
news, the
new year
night vision
1994
note to myself
November 1975
oh antic God
old man river
ones like us
out of body
Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival
photograph
poem beginning in no and ending in yes
poem for my sisters
poem in praise of menstruation
poem to my uterus
Poem To My Yellow Coat
Poem With Rhyme
poem written for many moynihans, a
poet is thirty two, the
praise song
quartz lake, Alaska
roots
Rounding the curve near Ellicot City
running across to the lot
rust
salt
sam
sam, jr.
samson predicts from gaza the philadelphia fire
shadows
shapeshifter poems
she lived
shooting star
slave cabin, sotterly plantation, maryland, 1989
6/27/06
so close
some dreams hang in the air
some points along some of the meridians
somewhere
song
song of mary, a
sonora desert poem
sorrows
sorrow song
speaking of loss
SPRING THOUGHT FOR THELMA
stop
study the masters
surely i am able to write poems
take somebody like me
tale shepherds tell the sheep, the
telling our stories
testament
the bodies broken on
thel
the light that came to lucille clifton
the mystery that surely is present
there
there is a girl inside
the thirty eighth year
this belief
this is for the mice that live
this is what i know
this morning
times, the
to black poets
to joan
to merle
to ms. ann
to my friend, jerina
to my last period
turning
visit to gettysburg, a
walking the blind dog
water sign woman
“We Do Not Know Very Much About Lucille’s Inner Life”
what comes after this
what the mirror said
when i stand around among poets
whose side are you on?
why some people be mad at me sometimes
wild blessings
wind on the st. marys river
won’t you celebrate with me
Acknowledgments
It was a great privilege and responsibility to edit this Selected of
