LUCILLE CLIFTON
"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.
LUCILLE CLIFTON
"shadows"
in the latter days
you will come to a place
called memphis.
there you will wait for awhile
by the river mississippi
until you can feel the shadow
of another memphis and another
river. nile.
wake up girl.
you dreaming.
the sign may be water or fire
or it may be the black earth
or the black blood under the earth.
or it may be the syllables themselves
coded to you from your southern kin.
wake up girl.
i swear you dreaming.
memphis.
capital of the old kingdom
of ancient egypt at the apex
of the river across from the
great pyramids.
nile. born in the mountains
of the moon.
wake up girl.
this dont connect.
wait there.
in the shadow of your room
you may see another dusky woman
weakened by too much loss.
she will be dreaming a small boat
through centuries of water
into the white new world.
she will be weaving garments
of neglect.
wake up girl.
this dont mean nothing.
meaning is the river
of voices. meaning
is the patience of the moon.
meaning is the thread
running forever in shadow.
girl girl wake up.
somebody calling you.
LUCILLE CLIFTON
"Seeker of Visions"
what does this mean.
to see walking men
wrapped in the color of death,
to hear from their tongue
such difficult syllables?
are they the spirits
of our hope
or the pale ghosts of our future?
who will believe the red road
will not run on forever?
who will believe
a tribe of ice might live
and we might not?
