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The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni

Page 30

by Nikki Giovanni


  “Stardate Number 18628.190”

  This poem was originally published as “Light the Candles” in Essence magazine’s twenty-fifth anniversary issue, May 1995.

  Stanza 3: “Precious Lord…take my hand”: Classic gospel song written in 1938 by Thomas A. Dorsey.

  Stanza 3: “Amazing Grace”: Well-known song written by a former slave ship captain.

  Stanza 3: “Go down, Moses”: Well-known slave spiritual.

  Stanza 3: “Marion Anderson”: Marian Anderson (1900–1993), a Philadelphia-born singer, the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1939 she drew national attention when the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her request to sing in Constitution Hall—because she was Black. Eleanor Roosevelt, then wife of the U.S. president, resigned from the DAR in protest. Subsequently Marian Anderson sang in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, to an audience of 75,000 people.

  Stanza 3: “Leontyne”: Leontyne Price (1927–) is an internationally recognized diva whose opera career blossomed in the 1950s.

  Stanza 3: “Battle”: Kathleen Battle (1948–) is a soprano who has appeared at most of the world’s major opera houses.

  Stanza 3: “Bessie”: Bessie Smith (1894–37), “Empress of the Blues.”

  Stanza 3: “Dinah Washington”: Dinah Washington (1924–63), one of the great blues singers.

  Stanza 3: “Etta James saying At Last”: Etta James (1938–) is a rhythm and blues singer whose career peaked in the 1950s and 1960s; one of her early albums is entitled At Last.

  Stanza 4: “This is a bus seat”: An allusion to Rosa Parks (1913–). See note to “Harvest,”.

  Stanza 4: “telling young Alex”: An allusion to Alex Haley (1921–92), who first heard of his African ancestors through storytelling sessions on long summer nights in Tennessee.

  Stanza 6: “CC Riders”: “C. C. Rider” is the title of an old folk song that was transformed into a blues song.

  Stanza 7: “Peter Salem and Peter Poor”: Giovanni means Peter Salem (1750?–1816) and Salem Poor (dates uncertain), both African American heroes in the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill. Peter Salem is credited with killing Major John Pit-cairn. Salem Poor is credited with killing Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie; he was cited for heroism by some fourteen officers.

  Stanza 7: “the 54th Regiment from Massachusetts”: This all-Black Civil War regiment demonstrated unsurpassed courage in its unsuccessful assault on Confederate forces at Fort Wagner in 1863. The regiment is the subject of the 1989 film Glory.

  Stanza 7: “Emmett Till”: Emmett Louis Till (1941–55). See note to “Lorraine Hansberry,”.

  Stanza 7: “Medgar Evers”: Medgar Wiley Evers (1925–63), Civil Rights activist and Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was murdered in the doorway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 12, 1963.

  Stanza 7: “Malcolm X”: Malcolm X, later Al Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz (1925–65), was assassinated on February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

  Stanza 7: “Martin Luther King, Jr.”: Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

  “BROTHER BROTHER BROTHER (the Isley Brothers of Lincoln Heights)”

  The Isley Brothers, whose father was a professional singer and mother was a pianist, began singing together in the 1950s. Initially there were four brothers: O’Kelly (1937–86), Rudolph (1939–), Ronald (1941–), and Vernon (?–1954), but the core of the group consisted of three after Vernon was killed in an automobile accident. In the mid-1960s, they were joined by their younger brothers Ernie and Marvin and their cousin Chris Jasper.

  Stanza 2: “into the Valley”: Suburban area north of Cincinnati.

  Stanza 4: “progress is the most important product”: Advertising slogan used by General Electric.

  Stanza 7: “perfecting SHOUT”: “Shout,” a soul music single reflecting gospel roots, was released in 1959 and brought national attention to the group.

  Stanza 8: “Joey Dee”: Joey Dee and the Starlighters were a white rock and roll group that had two huge hits, “Peppermint Twist” and “Shout—Part 1.”

  Index of Titles

  Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.

  Adulthood, 62

  Adulthood II, 260

  Africa, 215

  Africa I, 176

  Africa II, 177

  Age, 250

  Alabama Poem, 120

  All I Gotta Do, 111

  Alone, 96

  Always There Are the Children, 223

  And Another Thing, 189

  And Sometimes I Sit, 138

  Atrocities, 182

  Autumn Poems, 99

  Balances, 81

  Beautiful Black Men, 70

  Because, 253

  Beep Beep Poem, The, 272

  Being and Nothingness, 292

  Black Judgements, 88

  Black Power, 34

  Black Separatism, 15

  Boxes, 240

  Brother Brother Brother, 361

  But Since You Finally Asked, 357

  Butterfly, The, 155

  Cancers, 339

  Categories, 165

  Certain Peace, A, 158

  Charles White, 316

  Charting the Night Winds, 299

  Choices, 269

  Communication, 206

  Concerning One Responsible Negro with Too Much Power, 47

  Conversation, 149

  Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, 227

  Crutches, 238

  Cultural Awareness, 79

  Cyclops in the Ocean, The, 326

  Dance Committee, The, 39

  December of My Springs, The, 202

  Detroit Conference of Unity and Art, 3

  Dreams, 67

  Drum, The, 318

  Each Sunday, 200

  Eagles, 320

  Ego Tripping, 125

  Ever Want To Crawl, 140

  Fascinations, 264

  Fishy Poem, A, 147

  Flying Underground, 321

  For A Lady of Pleasure Now Retired, 116

  For An Intellectual Audience, 33

  For a Poet I Know, 82

  Forced Retirement, 232

  For Gwendolyn Brooks, 99

  For Harold Logan, 93

  For Saundra, 80

  For Teresa, 84

  For Tommy, 91

  For Two Jameses (Ballantine and Snow) In iron cells, 97

  From a Logical Point of View, 64

  Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr., The, 51

  Game Of Game, The, 113

  Genie in the Jar, The, 110

  Great Pax Whitie, The, 54

  Gus, 266

  Habits, 262

  Hampton, Virginia, 209

  Hands: For Mother’s Day, 304

  Harvest, 327

  Her Cruising Car, 322

  Historical Footnote to Consider Only When All Else Fails, A, 16

  Housecleaning, 102

  How Do You Write A Poem?, 136

  I Am She, 342

  I Laughed When I Wrote It, 185

  I’m Not Lonely, 30

  Intellectualism, 57

  Introspection, 230

  I Remember, 156

  I Want To Sing, 139

  I Wrote a Good Omelet, 337

  Journey, A, 333

  Just a New York Poem, 161

  Kidnap Poem, 109

  Knoxville, Tennessee, 59

  Laws of Motion, The, 211

  Legacies, 143

  Letter to a Bourgeois Friend Whom Once I Loved, 27

  Life Cycles, 258

  Life I Led, The, 203

  Linkage, 313

  Lion in Daniel’s Den, The, 115
<
br />   Litany for Peppe, A, 52

  Lorraine Hansberry: An Emotional View, 301

  Love: Is a Human Condition, 331

  Love Poem, 31

  Love Thoughts, 345

  Luxury, 207

  Make Up, 282

  Master Charge: Blues, 114

  Mirrors, 310

  Mixed Media, 160

  Moon Shines Down, The, 293

  Mothers, 144

  Mother’s Habits, 204

  My House, 192

  My Poem, 86

  My Tower, 174

  New Yorkers, The, 235

  Night, 220

  Nikki-Rosa, 53

  No Reservations, 94

  Nothing Makes Sense, 183

  Of Liberation, 41

  Once a Lady Told Me, 199

  On Hearing “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair,” 4

  Only Song I’m Singing, The, 154

  On Seeing Black Journal and Watching Nine Negro Leaders “Give Aid and Comfort to the Enemy” to Quote Richard Nixon, 187

  Oppression, 128

  Our Detroit Conference, 8

  Patience, 281

  Personae Poem, 11

  Photography, 271

  Poem, 208

  Poem, 242

  Poem (For Anna Hedgeman and Alfreda Duster), 181

  Poem (For BMC No. 1), 7

  Poem (For BMC No. 2), 10

  Poem (For BMC No. 3), 14

  Poem (For Dudley Randall), 9

  Poem (For EMA), 278

  Poem (For Nina), 175

  Poem (No Name No. 1), 13

  Poem (No Name No. 2), 18

  Poem (No Name No. 3), 23

  Poem (For PCH), 12

  Poem (For TW), 6

  Poem/Because It Came As A Surprise To Me, A, 127

  Poem For A Lady Whose Voice I Like, 135

  Poem for Aretha, 103

  Poem for Black Boys, 45

  Poem for Carol, A, 146

  Poem for Ed and Archie, A, 274

  Poem For Flora, 131

  Poem for langston hughes, A, 356

  Poem for Lloyd, 101

  Poem For My Nephew, 133

  Poem for Stacia, 152

  Poem For Unwed Mothers, 122

  Poem of Angela Yvonne Davis, 351

  Poem Off Center, A, 245

  Poem of Friendship, A, 291

  Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, A, 319

  Poetry, 221

  Poetry is a Tressel, 210

  Rain, 100

  Records, 60

  Reflections/On a Golden Anniversary, 320

  Reflections on April 4, 1968, 49

  Resignation, 334

  Response, A, 290

  Revolutionary Dreams, 106

  Revolutionary Music, 68

  Rituals, 151

  Robin’s Poem, A, 119

  Room With the Tapestry Rug, The, 343

  Rose Bush, The, 280

  Scrapbooks, 169

  2nd Rapp, 118

  Seduction, 35

  Short Essay of Affirmation Explaining Why, A, 21

  Sky Diving, 332

  Something to Be Said for Silence, 213

  Sometimes, 132

  Some Uses For Them Not Stated, 130

  Song for New-Ark, A, 347

  Space, 276

  Stardate Number 18628.190*, 358

  Statement on Conservation, A, 287

  Straight Talk, 167

  Swaziland, 217

  That Day, 294

  They Clapped, 179

  Their Fathers, 254

  This Is Not for John Lennon, 307

  Three/Quarters Time, 338

  Toy Poem, 129

  True Import of Present Dialogue, Black vs. Negro, The, 19

  Turning, 288 12 Gates: To The City, 123

  Two Poems: From Barbados, 92

  Ugly Honkies, or The Election Game and How to Win It, 74

  [Unititled], 163

  [Unititled] (For Margaret Danner), 173

  Universality, 58

  Very Simple Wish, A, 218

  Walking Down Park, 107

  Way I Feel, The, 205

  We, 191

  When I Die, 171

  When I Nap, 159

  Wild Flowers, 344

  Wilmington Delaware, 24

  Winter, 284

  Winter Poem, 148

  Winter Storm, The, 247

  Woman, 275

  Woman Poem, 71

  Women Gather, The, 197

  Wonder Woman, The, 164

  Word for Me…Also, A, 341

  Word Poem, 36

  World Is Not a Pleasant Place to Be, The, 153

  Yeah…But…, 134

  You Are There, 285

  You Came, Too, 5

  You Were Gone, 346

  Index of First Lines

  a bright sun flower yellow tiger, 183

  a flying saucer landed, 276

  africa is a young man bathing, 177

  all i gotta do, 111

  all problems being, 232

  An amoeba is lucky it’s so small, 331

  and always there are the children, 223

  And every now and then I think, 13

  and sometimes i sit, 138

  And this silly wire, 12

  and when i was all alone, 84

  And when she was lonely, 343

  as things be/come, 36

  as we all probably realize, 75

  Bitter Black Bitterness, 18

  brooks start with cloud condensation, 98

  But I had called the office, 14

  But the whole thing is a miracle—See?, 34

  Cancers are a serious condition, 339

  cause nobody deals with Aretha, 103

  childhood remembrances are always a drag, 53

  Dance with me, 338

  diamonds are mined, 356

  Don’t look now, 227

  dreams have a way, 164

  Dykes of the world are united, 41

  Eagles are a majestic species, 320

  ever been kidnapped, 109/

  ever notice how it’s only the ugly, 74

  ever want to crawl, 140

  Every time the earth moves, 321

  finding myself still fascinated, 264

  For three hours (too short for me), 6

  Frogs burrow the mud, 284

  He always had pretty legs, 266

  He has a girl who has flaxen hair, 4

  her grandmother called her from the playground, 143

  he was just a little, 93

  His headstone said, 51

  homosexuality, 127

  Honkies always talking ‘bout, 21

  how do poets write, 245

  how do you write a poem, 136

  i always liked house cleaning, 102

  I always like summer, 59

  i always wanted to be a bridesmaid, 151

  i am 25 years old, 86

  I am always lonely, 11

  i am a teller of tales, 215

  i am in a box, 240

  i am old and need, 217

  I am she, 342

  I am the token negro, 39

  I came to the crowd seeking friends, 5

  i can be, 96

  i don’t want you to think, 134

  I dreamed of you last night, 274

  if I can’t do, 269

  if music is the most universal language, 206

  if she wore her dresses, 200

  if they put you in a jack-in-the-box poet, 129

  if trees could talk, 120

  if you plant grain, 119

  if you sang songs i could make a request, 82

  if you’ve got the key, 294

  I hang on the edge, 332

  i have all, 204

  i have built my tower on the wings of a spider, 174

  i have considered, 242

  i have nine guppies, 147

  i haven’t done anything, 292

  i haven’t written a poem in so long, 262

  i know i haven’t grown bu
t, 280

  i know my upper arms will grow, 203

  I love you, 334

  I mean it’s only natural that if, 64

  i’m a happy moile, 33

  i’m giving up, 167

  i’m leaving at five, 189

  i’m not lonely, 30

  i move on feeling and have learned to distrust those who don’t, 351

  in africa night walks, 220

  in an age of napalmed children, 182

  In front of the bank building, 235

  in life, 81

  in my younger years, 67

  In the beginning was the word, 54

  in the december of my springs, 202

  i only want to, 192

  i remember learning you jump, 156

  i see wonder, 152

  i shall save my poems, 285

  I should write a poem, 272

  I stood still and was a mushroom on the forest green, 7

  i suppose living, 207

  I think hands must be very important, 304

  it’s a drag, 101

  It’s a journey, 333

  it’s funny that smells and sounds return, 169

  It’s intriguing to me that “bookmaker” is a gambling, 301

  it’s not the crutches we decry, 238

  it’s so hard to love, 31

  it’s so important to record, 60

  It starts with a hand, 15

  it’s wednesday night baby, 114

  it was good for the virgin mary, 122

  it was very pleasant, 158

  it wouldn’t have been, 187

  i used to dream militant, 106

  i usta wonder who i’d be, 62

  i’ve noticed i’m happier, 205

  i wanta say just gotta say something, 70

  i wanted to sing, 139

  i want to take, 161

  i want to write an image, 218

  I was born in the congo, 125

  i will be bitter, 254

  i wish i could have been oppressed, 128

  i wish i were, 133

  I wrote a good omelet, 337

  i wrote a poem, 253

  like a will-o’-the-wisp in the night, 208

  like my mother and her grandmother before, 199

  Moving slowly, 326

  Nigger, 19

  No one asked us, 357

  Not more than we can bear, 307

  once a snowflake fell, 148

  one day, 35

 

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