MLK’s birthday coinciding with a white supremacist ascending to the presidency reminds us that MLK refused to give up in the face of such reversals.
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Tag Archives: Lucille Clifton
MLK’s Lesson for the Trump Era
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "We Are Soldiers", "which side are you on?", Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Trump's inauguration Comments closed
When the Light Knocks on the Door
Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem “truth” dramatizes the conflict between disturbing hope and familiar darkness. Think of it as an Advent poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Light that came to lucille clifton", Advent, Gwendolyn Brooks, hope, John Donne, T. S. Eliot, Truth, Waste Land Comments closed
Clifton Poems for Cancer Sufferers
Clifton knew cancer well and wrote about it eloquently.
Rosh Hashanah: Running into a New Year
Clifton’s “i am running into a new year” works as a Rosh Hashanah poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "i am running into a new year", High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah Comments closed
Hearing the Celestial Voices
Two shepherd poems to mark the shepherd references in today’s lectionary.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Hollow Men", "Journey of the Magi", "man who killed the bear", "Shepherd", "Song of the Shepherds", 23rd Psalm, Annunciation of the shepherds, Dante, Jeremiah, Paradiso, Richard Bauckman, T. S. Eliot, William Blake Comments closed
On Hummingbirds and…Menstruation?!
With hummingbirds beginning to arrive, here’s a hummingbird poem comparing them to…menstruation!
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "homage to my hips", "Last Hummingbird of Summer", "to my last period", Beth Fennelly, hummingbirds, menstruation Comments closed
Tim Scott’s Self-Debasement
Sen. Tim Scott’s self-abasement before Donald Trump brings to mind various “Uncle Tom” poems written by Black authors.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "All of Us Are All of Us", "robert", "Uncle Tom", Donald Trump, Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Lindsey Graham, racism, Tim Scott, Uncle Tom's Cabin Comments closed
Alexei Navalny as Harry Potter?
Some Russians saw Navalny, recently killed by Putin, as a Harry Potter “boy who lived.” That dream is gone but others live on.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "meeting after the savior gone", Alexi Navalny, authoritarianism, Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, Martin Luther King, Vladimir Putin Comments closed
Upon the Meaning of Feeling Guilty
In which I reflect upon why we feel guilty for things beyond our control. Anouilh’s “Antigone” and a Clifton poem enter into the exploration.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "poem with rhyme in it", Antigone, guilt, injustice, Jean Anouilh Comments closed