Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language.
children when they ask you why your mama so funny say she is a poet she don't have no sense.
i keep hearing tree talk water words and i keep knowing what they mean.
. . . even when the universe made it quite clear to me that I was mistaken in my certainties, in my definitions, I did not break. The shattering of my sureties did not shatter me. Stability comes from inside, not outside....
People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry, and that's a mistake. One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated.
Research these websites for Lucille Clifton
pictures, books, posters & more
Published Sources for Quotations Above:
F:
In "Listen to Their Voices," ch. 9, by Mickey Pearlman, 1993.
R:
Admonitions," "Good Times."
A:
Breaklight," "An Ordinary Woman," 1974.
N:
In "The Black Woman's Gumbo Ya-Ya," by Terri L. Jewell, 1993.
