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Tag Archives: Lucille Clifton
Rightwing Evangelicals Bind with Briars
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Garden of Love", "poem in praise of menstruation", Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Purple Hibiscus, rightwing Christianity, rightwing evangelicals, William Blake Comments closed
Three Poems for Surviving Trump
Hope is needed in the face to emotional exhaustion over Trumpism. Here are three poems about finding hope in dark times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Hope is the thing with feathers", David Whyte, Donald Trump, Emily Dickson, hope Comments closed
Lucille Clifton’s Cancer Poems
In her 1980s cancer poems, Lucille Clifton captures a range of feelings, ranging from confusion to anger to acceptance.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alice in Wonderland, cancer, cancer poems, hospitals, Lewis Carroll, Medicine Comments closed
Women Who Refuse To Be Broken
There are certain poets who appear indomitable and, in their confident affirmations of life, inspire the rest of us. Lucille Clifton was one of these poets.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "won't you celebrate with me", Adversity, cancer, Rachel Kranz, sickness Comments closed
Clifton Poems Make Connection Possible
In a recent event honoring the memory of Lucille Clifton, poet Toi Derricotte read a poem about how Clifton’s poetry opened up a relationship with the mother of a sick child. Here I share Derricotte’s poem as well as the poems she read to the mother and examine why they had the effect they did.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I was born with twelve fingers", "in the inner city", cancer, Illness, Toi Derricotte Comments closed
We Benefit When We Check Our Privilege
Do be blind to one’s privileges is to live in a world of shadows and phantoms, as Ralph Ellison and Lucille Clifton both make clear. Life if much richer if we identify our blindnesses and engage with people as three-dimensional beings.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "wishes for sons", Invisible Man, racism, Ralph Ellison, white privilege Comments closed
The New Moon, A Prayer Opening to Faith
In a powerful Advent poem, David Whyte compares waning faith with the waning moon. The poem reminds me of poems by John Keats and Lucille Clifton.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Bright Star", "man who killed the bear", Advent, David Whyte, Faith, John Keats Comments closed
Massacring the Environment Dakota Style
With a North Dakota winter bearing down on those protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, I see a convergence of images that also show up in Lucille Clifton’s poem “the killing of the trees”: environmental degradation, oppression of Native Americans, and frozen bodies.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "killing of the trees", clean water, Dakota Access Pipeline, Lakota Sious, Standing Rock Sioux Comments closed
John the Baptist: his mouth be true as time
In Lucille Clifton’s version of John the Baptist, he is a black minister preaching the social gospel.