Thursday, March 5, 2009

Grade 9: Literature: A collection of Nikki Giovanni poems


I Wrote a Good Omelet

I wrote a good omelet . . . and ate a hot poem . . .
after loving you
Buttoned my car . . . and drove my coat home . . . in the
rain . . .
after loving you
I goed on red . . . and stopped on green . . . floating
somewhere in between . . .
being here and being there . . .
after loving you
I rolled my bed . . . turned down my hair . . . slightly
confused but . . . I don't care . . .
Laid out my teeth . . . and gargled my gown . . . then I stood
. . . and laid me down . . .
to sleep . . .
after loving you
----------------------------------------------------
A Happy Reason
a good book (not necessarily a mystery) . . .

some popcorn with real butter . . .

a fire in the wood stove . . .

quilts on the couch . . .

thermal blankets on the bed . . .

a feather duster waiting to be used . . .

coffee pot with a timer . . .

the 49ers winning if we get lucky . . .

comic pages in color . . .

intelligent editorials . . .

snow or rainor any inclement weather . . .

or heavy doses of sun . . .

a reason to move or not move . . .

a reason to go or not go no reason to beanything . . .

except happy . . .with . . .you


---------------------------------------------------------------


I Do Have My Likes and Dislikes

I like cashmere scarves and cashmere sweaters and cotton blouses
with button down collars
I like mink muffs when my hands are cold and leather gloves up to
my elbow
I like manicures but I don't like nail polish
I like facials but not to squeeze the black heads out
I like caviar and pecan fried chicken and double decker sandwiches
white bread extra mayo
I really like anchovies on my pizza and quilts on my bed and
eucalyptus soap when I take a long bath
I prefer vacations in St.Vincent or Barbados or Jamaica but I'll take
any good beach I can find
I like ESPN Sports Roundup and homemade vanilla ice cream in a
big mug with chocolate chip cookies
I like bird houses and bird feeders and my coffee in the morning on
the deck where I hear birds singing
And mostly I like the peace of the breezes singing through the trees and
. . .oh by the way . . . I really like you


------------------------------------------------


August

Apples fall peaches harvested
One kind of pear is prickled
Blackberries turn your finger blue
Some cucumbers get pickled
Biscuits bake or they are fried
Grits are cooked real slow
Green tomatoes in bacon fat
then it's time to go
From Grandmothers country home
Back up to the city
I'd rather stay in the barefoot Southwhere everything is pretty


------------------------------------------------


How Do You Write a Poem?

how do you write a poem
about someone so close
to you that when you say ahhhh
they say chuuu
what can they ask you to put
on paper that isn't already written
on your face
and does the paper make it
any more real
that without them
life would be not
impossible but certainly
more difficult
and why should someone need
a poem to say when i come
home if you're not there
i search the air
for your scent
would i search any less
if i told the world
i don't care at all
and love is so complete
that touch or not we blend
to each other the things
that matter aren't all about
baaaanging (i can be baaaanged all
day long) but finding a spot
where i can be free
of all the physical
and emotional bullshit
and simply sit with a cup
of coffee and say to you
"i'm tired" don't you know
those are my love words
and say to you "how was your
day" doesn't that show
i care or say to you "we lost
a friend" and not want to share
that loss with strangers
don't you already know
what i feel and if
you don't maybe
i should check my feelings


-----------------------------------------


I Take Master Card

(Charge Your Love to Me)


I've heard all the stories 'bout how you don't deserve me

'cause I'm so strong and beautiful and wonderful

and you could never live up to what you know

I should have but I just want to let you know:

I take Master Card

You can love me as much as your heart can stand

then put the rest on account

and pay the interest each month

until we get this settled

You see we modern women do comprehend

that we deserve a whole lot more

than what is normally being offered but we are trying

to get aligned with the modern world

So baby, you can love me all you like

'cause you're pre-approved

and you don't have to sign onthe bottom line

Charge it up'til we just can't take no more

it's the modern way

I take Master Card to see your Visa

and I deal with a Discovery

but I don't want any American Express

'cause like the Pointer Sisters say: I need a slow hand


-----------------------------------


A Greater Love of God and Country
Concerning the Burning of Old and Alone Though Not Lonely
Black Churches

There is no reason to ask
"WHY" since to ask "WHY" is to enter some dark and crazy spot
where one presumes there is REASON and A REASON that will
make sense which is not to say there is a craziness: I don't belive
this is crazy but rather mean . . . hateful . . . ugly -- though not
ignorant because there is knowledge here and there is a purpose here
but there is NO
REASON

People who will burn a cross will burn a church

The buildings may be rebuilt but the creak
of a stair . . . the smell of polish in the pews
the old kitchen where Sunday dinners were reheated
the icebox where the iced tea was kept . . . the too narrow
steps leading to the damp and dusky basement . . . the leaky
window that could not always keep the cold at bay . . . the knowing
that this building was built by these hands to worship this God who
has Deliverd us . . . . . . . . . No. . . that cannot be rebuilt

The people who have burned crosses will burn a church

Something will be lost and the world just a bit sadder
for the loss ot the building . . . . But the people who sift through
ashes know that fire is a friend and that fire can be a foe
But the people who use fire are lowdown . . .
And the people who know that some people are lowdown will watch
the fires . . . will forgive the trespasses. . .and will go right on
thanking their God for His powerful . . . magnificentDeliverance


-------------------------------------------


You Were Gone

You were gone
like a fly lighting
on that wall
with a spider in the corner
You were gone
like last week's paycheck
for this week's bills
You were gone
like the years between
twenty-five and thirty
as if somehow
You never existed
and if it wouldn't be
for the gray hairs
I'd never know that
You had come.

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