There’s a decline in English majors at elite universities. We use a Lucille Clifton poem to respond.
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Tag Archives: Lucille Clifton
Keeping the Civil Rights Dream Alive
Great Civil Rights moments are great. Movements are better.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "meeting after the savior gone", Civil Rights Movement, Highlander Folk School, Martin Luther King, racism Comments closed
Poetry in the Commencement Ceremony
Our Commencement was jolted by a reading of Martin Espada’s “Imagine the Angels of Bread.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "blessing of the boats (at St. Mary's), "Imagine the Angels of Bread, College, Education, graduation, Martin Espada, Maya Angelou Comments closed
Answer the Door, the Truth Is Knocking
Willa Cather and Lucille Clifton were quoted in our end-of-the-year awards ceremony last week.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Light that came to lucille clifton", Education, Liberal arts education, Professor, Willa Cather Comments closed
Lessons of a Bird Killed by a Window
Encountering a dead bird outside my window, I recalled a Lucille Clifton poem on the subject that draws a powerful social message.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "for the bird who flew against our window", Nature Comments closed
It Is Your Own Lush Self You Hunger For
In her Garden of Eden poems, Lucille Clifton sees heaven as a stifling morality that both Eve and Satan are trying to break through. Apples in this drama are symbols of female sensuality.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "eve's version", "satan understanding at last", apples, fruit, Garden of Eden, Sensuality Comments closed
Leadership 101: Grade Obama
Andrew Sullivan says that we should not look for a savior in gay rights issues because, in America, “we save ourselves.” The sentiment also appears in a Lucille Clifton poem that appeared following the assassination of Martin Luther King.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "meeting after the savior gone", gay right, Same Sex Marriage Comments closed
Golf Suddenly Seems Green Again
Something happened in the course of the recent U. S. Open tournament. Lucille Clifton’s poem is about the “damn wonder” of renewal, and golf is catching a whiff of something fresh in the boy-faced Rory McIlroy.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "there is a girl inside", Golf, Robert Coover, Rory McIlroy, Sports, Universal Baseball Association Comments closed
The Green of Jesus Is Breaking the Ground
According to the church calendar, we are still in the Easter season,and the hope of the resurrection continues to be mirrored in beautiful May days. Lucille Clifton intermingles the spirituality of religion and the sensuality of life as well as any poet I know. Here’s a poem in her Jesus series. As far as she’s concerned, there’s no conflict between religious ecstasy and the sights and sounds of spring or the wonderful smells emanating from people’s kitchens and the music from their radios.