Section: «Poems»

Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings: artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.); a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").

A Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

Trees are never felled . . . in summer . . . Not when the fruit . . .is yet to be borne . . . Never before the promise . . . is fulfilled . . .Not..

© Nikki Giovanni

Possum Crossing

Backing out the drivewaythe car lights cast an eerie glowin the morning fog centeringon movement in the rain slick streetHitting brakes I anticipate..

© Nikki Giovanni

Rain

rain isgod's sperm fallingin the receptivewoman how elseto spenda rainy dayother than with youseeking sun and starsand heavenly bodieshow else to..

© Nikki Giovanni

All I Gotta Do

all i gotta dois sit and waitsit and waitand it's gonna findmeall i gotta dois sit and waitif i can learn howwhat i need to dois sit and waitcause..

© Nikki Giovanni

The Laws of Motion

The laws of science teach us a pound of gold weighs asmuch as a pound of flour though if dropped from anyundetermined height in their natural state..

© Nikki Giovanni

They Clapped

they clapped when we landedthinking africa was just an extensionof the black worldthey smiled as we taxied home to be metblack to black face not..

© Nikki Giovanni

When I Die

when i die i hope no one who ever hurt me criesand if they cry i hope their eyes fall outand a million maggots that had made up their brainscrawl..

© Nikki Giovanni

Knoxville, Tennessee

I always like summerbestyou can eat fresh cornfrom daddy's gardenand okraand greensand cabbageand lots ofbarbecueand buttermilkand homemade..

© Nikki Giovanni

A Journey

It's a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow passenger . . .Though the rail..

© Nikki Giovanni

Poetry

poetry is motion gracefulas a fawngentle as a teardropstrong like the eyefinding peace in a crowded roomwe poets tend to thinkour words are..

© Nikki Giovanni

My First Memory ( Of Librarians )

This is my first memory:A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creakywood floorA line of green shades—bankers' lights—down the centerHeavy..

© Nikki Giovanni

Legacies

her grandmother called her from the playground"yes, ma'am""i want chu to learn how to make rolls" said the oldwoman proudlybut the little girl didn't..

© Nikki Giovanni

Crutches

it's not the crutches we decryit's the need to move forwardthough we haven't the strengthwomen aren't allowed to needso they develop ritualssince we..

© Nikki Giovanni

Seduction

One dayyou gonna walk in this houseand i'm gonna have a long Africangownyou'll sit down and say 'The Black...'and i'm gonna take one arm outthen..

© Nikki Giovanni

Winter Poem

once a snowflake fellon my brow and i lovedit so much and i kissedit and it was happy and called its cousinsand brothers and a webof snow engulfed me..

© Nikki Giovanni

Habits

or loving youit may be a habit that once aquiredis never lostbut you say i'm foolishof course you love mebut being loved of courseis not the same as..

© Nikki Giovanni

Resignation

I love youbecause the Earth turns round the sunbecause the North wind blows northsometimesbecause the Pope is Catholicand most Rabbis Jewishbecause..

© Nikki Giovanni

Nikki-Rosa

Childhood rememberances arealways a drag if you're Blackyou always remember things likeliving in Woodlawn with no inside toiletand if you become..

© Nikki Giovanni

Life Cycles

she realizedshe wasn't oneof life's winnerswhen she wasn't surelife to her was some darkdirty secret thatlike some unwanted childtoo late for an..

© Nikki Giovanni

A Historical Footnote to Consider Only When All Else Fails

(For Barbara Crosby)While it is true(though only in a factual sense)That in the wake of aHer-I-can comes aShowerSurely I am notThe gravitating..

© Nikki Giovanni

Dreams

in my younger yearsbefore i learnedblack people aren'tsuppose to dreami wanted to bea raeletand say "dr o wn d in my youn tears"or "tal kin bout tal..

© Nikki Giovanni

A Summer Love Poem

Clouds float by on a summer skyI hop scotch over to youRainbows arch from ground to goldI climb over to youThunder grumbles, lightning tumblesAnd I..

© Nikki Giovanni

I'M Not Lonely

I'm not lonelysleeping all aloneyou think i'm scaredbut i'm a big girli don't cry or anythingI have a greatbig bed to roll aroundin and lots of..

© Nikki Giovanni

Always There Are The Children

and always there are the childrenthere will be children in the heat of daythere will be children in the cold of winterchildren like a quilted..

© Nikki Giovanni

Poem For A Lady Whose Voice I Like

so he said: you ain't got no talentif you didn't have a faceyou wouldn't be nobodyand she said: god created heaven and earthand all that's Black..

© Nikki Giovanni