The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010
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Copyright ©2012 by The Estate of Lucille T. Clifton. Foreword copyright ©2012 by Toni Morrison. Afterword “won’t you celebrate with me?” © by Kevin Young.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clifton, Lucille, 1936–2010.
The collected poems of Lucille Clifton 1965–2010 / edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser ; foreword by Toni Morrison ; afterword by Kevin Young. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (American poets continuum series ; 134)
ISBN 978-1-934414-90-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
I. Young, Kevin. II. Glaser, Michael S., 1943– III. Title.
PS3553.L45 2012
811'.54—dc23
2012014244
Lannan
BOA Editions, Ltd.
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Rochester, NY 14607
www.boaeditions.org
A. Poulin, Jr., Founder (1938–1996)
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Editors’ Note
Foreword: Lucille Clifton by Toni Morrison
Early Uncollected Poems (1965–1969)
BLACK WOMEN
OLD HUNDRED
THE OLD AVAILABLES HAVE
CHAN’S DREAM
from Dark Nursery Rhymes for a Dark Daughter
5/23/67 R.I.P.
ONLY TOO HIGH IS HIGH ENOUGH
THE COMING OF X
Conversation Overheard in a Graveyard
SUNDAY DINNER
MY FRIEND MARY STONE FROM OXFORD MISSISSIPPI
SPRING THOUGHT FOR THELMA
my mother teached me
To Mama too late
Dear Mama
Dear
Dear
plain as a baby
Everytime i talk about
satchmo
FOR PRISSLY
the last Seminole is black
a poem written for many moynihans
the poet is thirty two
QUOTATIONS FROM AUNT MARGARET BROWN
daddy
take somebody like me
let them say
good times (1969)
in the inner city
my mama moved among the days
my daddy’s fingers move among the couplers
lane is the pretty one
miss rosie
robert
the 1st
running across to the lot
still
good times
if i stand in my window
stops
the discoveries of fire
those boys that ran together
pity this poor animal
the white boy
the meeting after the savior gone
for deLawd
ca’line’s prayer
if he ask you was i laughing
if something should happen
generations
love rejected
tyrone (1)
willie b (1)
tyrone (2)
willie b (2)
tyrone (3)
willie b (3)
tyrone (4)
willie b (4)
buffalo war
flowers
pork chops
now my first wife never did come out of her room
the way it was
admonitions
good news about the earth (1972)
about the earth after kent state
being property once myself
the way it was
the lost baby poem
later i’ll say
apology
lately
the ’70s
listen children
driving through new england
the news
the bodies broken on
song
prayer
heroes africa
i am high on the man called crazy
earth
for the bird who flew against our window one morning and broke his natural neck
God send easter
so close
wise: having the ability to perceive and adopt the best means for accomplishing an end.
malcolm
eldridge
to bobby seale
for her hiding place
richard penniman
daddy
poem for my sisters
the kind of man he is
some jesus adam and eve
cain
moses
solomon
job
daniel
jonah
john
mary
joseph
the calling of the disciples
the raising of lazarus
palm sunday
good friday
easter sunday
spring song
Uncollected Poems (1973–1974)
Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival
All of Us Are All of Us
an ordinary woman (1974)
sisters in salem
sisters
leanna’s poem
on the birth of bomani
salt
a storm poem
god’s mood
new bones
harriet
roots
come home from the movies
to ms. ann
my boys
last note to my girls
a visit to gettysburg
monticello
to a dark moses
Kali
this morning
i agree with the leaves the lesson of the falling leaves
i am running into a new year
the coming of Kali
she insists on me
she understands me
she is dreaming
her love poem
calming Kali
i am not done yet
the poet
turning
my poem
lucy one-eye
if mama
i was born in a hotel
light
cutting greens
jackie robinson
i went to the valley
at last we killed the roaches
in the evenings
breaklight
some dreams
hang in the air
the carver
let there be new flowering
the thirty eighth year
Uncollected Poems (ca. 1975)
Anniversary 5/10/74
November 1, 1975
“We Do Not Know Very Much About Lucille’s Inner Life”
two-headed woman (1980)
homage to mine lucy and her girls
i was born with twelve fingers
homage to my hair
homage to my hips
what the mirror said
there is a girl inside
to merle
august the 12th
on the death of allen’s son
speaking of loss
to thelma who worried because i couldn’t cook
poem on my fortieth birthday to my mother who died young
februrary 13, 1980
forgiving my father
to the unborn and waiting children
aunt agnes hatcher tells
the once and future dead
two-headed woman in this garden
the making of poems
new year
sonora desert poem
my friends
wife
i once knew a man
angels
conversation with my grandson, waiting to be conceived
the mystery that surely is present
the astrologer predicts at mary’s birth
anna speaks of the childhood of mary her daughter
mary’s dream
how he is coming then
holy night
a song of mary
island mary
mary mary astonished by God
for the blind
for the mad
for the lame
for the mute
God waits for the wandering world
the light that came to lucille clifton
the light that came to lucille clifton testament
incandescence
mother, i am mad
perhaps
explanations
friends come
to joan
confession
in populated air
Next (1987)
we are all next album
winnie song
there
what spells raccoon to me
this belief
why some people be mad at me sometimes
sorrow song
I. at creation
I. at gettysburg
I. at nagasaki
I. at jonestown
atlantic is a sea of bones
cruelty. don’t talk to me about cruelty
the woman in the camp
the lost women
4 daughters
grown daughter
here is another bone to pick with you
female
if our grandchild be a girl
this is the tale
my dream about being white
my dream about the cows
my dream about time
my dream about falling
my dream about the second coming
my dream about God
my dream about the poet
morning mirror
or next the death of crazy horse
crazy horse names his daughter
crazy horse instructs the young men but in their grief they forget
the message of crazy horse
the death of thelma sayles
lives
the message of thelma sayles
the death of joanne c.
enter my mother
leukemia as white rabbit
incantation
chemotherapy
she won’t ever forgive me
the one in the next bed is dying
leukemia as dream/ritual
the message of jo
chorus: lucille
the death of fred clifton
“i’m going back to my true identity”
my wife
the message of fred clifton
singing in white america 1 i come to read them poems
2 the history
3 the tour
4 the hall
5 the reading
6 it is late
shapeshifter poems 1 the legend is whispered
2 who is there to protect her
3 if the little girl lies
4 the poem at the end of the world
california lessons 1 geography
2 history
3 botany
4 semantics
5 metaphysics
quilting (1991)
[section titles are taken from the names of traditional quilt designs]
quilting
log cabin i am accused of tending to the past
note to myself
poem beginning in no and ending in yes
february 11, 1990
at the cemetery, walnut grove plantation, south carolina, 1989
slave cabin, sotterly plantation, maryland, 1989
white lady
memo
reply
whose side are you on?
shooting star
poem with rhyme in it
eyes
defending my tongue
catalpa flower from the wisdom of sister brown
the birth of language
we are running
what the grass knew
nude photograph
this is for the mice that live
sleeping beauty
a woman who loves
man and wife
poem in praise of menstruation
peeping tom
ways you are not like oedipus
the killing of the trees
questions and answers
november 21, 1988
the beginning of the end of the world
the last day
eight-pointed star wild blessings
somewhere
when i stand around among poets
water sign woman
photograph
grandma, we are poets
december 7, 1989
to my friend, jerina
lot’s wife 1988
fat fat water rat
poem to my uterus
to my last period
wishes for sons
the mother’s story
in which i consider the fortunate deaf
4/25/89 late
as he was dying
night sound
the spirit walks in
after the reading
moonchild
tree of life oh where have you fallen to
remembering the birth of lucifer
whispered to lucifer
eve’s version
lucifer understanding at last
the garden of delight
adam thinking
eve thinking
the story thus far
lucifer speaks in his own voice
prayer blessing the boats
The Book of Light (1992)
LIGHT
reflection climbing
june 20
daughters
sam
my lost father
thel
imagining bear
c.c. rider
11/10 again
she lived
for roddy
them and us
the women you are accustomed to
song at midnight
won’t you celebrate with me
lightning bolt it was a dream
each morning i pull myself
here yet be dragons
the yeti poet returns to his village to tell his story
crabbing
the earth is a living thing
move
samson predicts from gaza the philadelphia fire
january 1991
dear jesse helms,
if i should
further note to
clark
begin here
night vision
fury
cigarettes
final note to clark
note, passed to superman
the rough weight of it
splendor seeker of visions
nothing about the moment
atlas
sarah’s promise
naomi watches as ruth sleeps
cain
leda 1
leda 2
leda 3
far memory
brothers
Uncollected Poems (1993)
hometown 1993
ones like us
The Terrible Stories (1996)
telling our stories
1. A Dream of Foxes fox
the coming of fox
dear fox
leaving fox
one year later
a dream of foxes
2. From the Cadaver amazons
lumpectomy eve
consulting the book of changes: radiation
1994
scar
hag riding
down the tram
rust
from the cadaver
3. A Term in Memphis shadows
slaveships
entering the south
the mississippi river empties into the gulf
old man river
the son of medgar
auction street
memphis
what comes after this
blake
4. In the Meantime evening and my dead once husband
memory
my sanctified grandmother
lee
album
what did she know, when did she know it
in the same week
heaven
lorena
in the meantime
5. From the Book of David dancer
son of jesse
david has slain his ten thousands
to michal
enemies
beloved
bathsheba
the prophet
oh absalom my son my son
david, musing
what manner of man
Blessing the Boats (2000)
new poems the times
signs
moonchild