The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton, 1965-2010

805 Pages·2012·2.72 MB·English

by  Lucille Clifton

Poetry E T
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“The love readers feel for Lucille Clifton—both the woman and K l
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Lucille Clifton was one of the most her poetry—is constant and deeply felt. The lines that surface in c On February 13, 2010, the poetry world
most frequently in praise of her work and her person are moving Y te
distinguished, decorated and beloved poets of o lost one of its most distinguished
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her time. She won the National Book Award declarations of racial pride, courage, steadfastness…” n members with the passing of Lucille
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for Poetry for Blessing the Boats: New and —Toni Morrison, from the Foreword a o Clifton. In 2007, she was named the first
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Selected Poems 1988-2000 and was the first d African American woman to receive the
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African American female recipient of Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize honoring a U.S.
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the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime h o poet whose “lifetime accomplishments
achievement from the Poetry Foundation. “It is not possible for me to speak about Lucille Clifton without ael f warrant extraordinary recognition,” and
feeling love for her. I realize that now as something that must have S L
Ms. Clifton received many additional honors . G u was posthumously awarded the Robert
throughout her career, including the been true ever since I first met her, some twenty-five years ago. She c Frost Medal for lifetime achievement
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Discovery Award from the New York YW/ was certainly a poet by that time, with her own clarity and resonance se ll from the Poetry Society of America.
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in 2010. Her honors and awards give testa- She knew what she missed but she knew where she was, and her or 1 poems from 1965-1969, a collection-
e 9
ment to the universality of her unique and simplicity was not like anyone else’s. All that seems more apparent wo 6 in-progress titled Book of Days (2008),
resonant voice. She was named a Literary Lion rd 5 and a poignant selection of final poems.
by the New York Public Library in 1996, and more unmistakable than ever now that she has, in some sense, b -2 An insightful Foreword by Nobel Prize-
y
served as a Chancellor of the Academy of gone. She has left us something of her own, something unique and T 0 winning author Toni Morrison and
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American Poets from 1999 to 2005, and was awake in her own words, which are the ordinary words we go on n 0 comprehensive Afterword by noted poet
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elected a Fellow in Literature of the American using every day.” M Kevin Young frame Clifton’s lifetime
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Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1987, she —W.S. Merwin rr body of work providing the definitive
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became the first author to have two books of s statement about this major American
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n
poetry – Good Woman and Next – chosen as poet’s career.
finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in the same year.
She was also the author of eighteen children’s
books, and in 1984 received the Coretta
Scott King Award from the American
Library Association for her book Everett
Anderson’s Good-bye.
Cover Design: Daphne Morrissey
Cover Photo: AP Images/Mark Lennihan
The Collected Poems
of Luclle Clfton
1965–2010


The Collected Poems

L C
of
ucille lifton
1965–2010
■
Edted by Kevn Young and Mchael S. Glaser
Foreword by Ton Morrson
Afterword by Kevn Young
amercan poets contnuum seres, no. 134
BOA Edtons, Ltd. ■ Rochester, NY ■ 2012

Copyright ©2012 by The Estate of Lucille T. Clifton. Foreword copyright ©2012 by
Toni Morrison. Afterword “won’t you celebrate with me?” © by Kevin Young.
All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition
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The publication of this book was made possible in large part by the Lannan Foundation.
Publications by BOA Editions, Ltd.—a not-for-profit corporation under section 501 (c)
(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code—are made possible with funds from a
variety of sources, including public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts,
a state agency; the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts; the
County of Monroe, NY; the Lannan Foundation for support of the Lannan Translations
Selection Series; the Mary S. Mulligan Charitable Trust; the Rochester Area Community
Foundation; the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester; the Steeple-Jack Fund;
the Ames-Amzalak Memorial Trust in memory of Henry Ames, Semon Amzalak and Dan
Amzalak; and contributions from many individuals nationwide.
Cover Design: Daphne Morrissey
Cover Photo: AP Photo/Mark Linnihan
Interior Design and Composition: Richard Foerster
Manufacturing: Thomson-Shore
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clifton, Lucille, 1936–2010.
The collected poems of Lucille Clifton 1965–2010 / edited by Kevin Young
and Michael S. Glaser ; foreword by Toni Morrison ; afterword by Kevin
Young. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (American poets continuum series ; 134)
ISBN 978-1-934414-90-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
I. Young, Kevin. II. Glaser, Michael S., 1943– III. Title.
PS3553.L45 2012
811'.54—dc23
2012014244
BOA Editions, Ltd.
250 North Goodman Street, Suite 306
Rochester, NY 14607
www.boaeditions.org
A. Poulin, Jr., Founder (1938–1996)
v
Contents

Edtors’ Note xxv
Foreword: Luclle Clfton by Ton Morrson xxv
■ Early Uncollected Poems (1965–1969)
black women 3
old hundred 4
the old availables have 5
chan’s dream 6
from Dark Nursery Rhymes for a Dark Daughter 7
5/23/67 r.i.p. 9
only too high is high enough 10
the coming of x 11
Conversaton Overheard n a Graveyard 12
sunday dinner 13
my friend mary stone from oxford mississippi 14
spring thought for thelma 15
my mother teached me 16
To Mama too late 17
Dear Mama 18
Dear 19
Dear 20
plain as a baby 21
Everytime i talk about 22
satchmo 23
for prissly 24
the last Semnole s black 25
a poem wrtten for many moynhans 26
the poet s thrty two 27
quotations from aunt margaret brown 28
daddy 29
take somebody like me 30
let them say 31
■ good times (1969)
in the inner city 35
v
my mama moved among the days 36
my daddy’s fingers move among the couplers 37
lane s the pretty one 38
mss rose 39
robert 40
the 1st 41
running across to the lot 42
still 43
good tmes 44
if i stand in my window 45
stops 46
the dscoveres of fre 47
those boys that ran together 48
pity this poor animal 49
the whte boy 50
the meetng after the savor gone 51
for deLawd 52
ca’lne’s prayer 53
f he ask you was  laughng 54
f somethng should happen 55
generatons 56
love rejected 57
tyrone (1) 58
wlle b (1) 59
tyrone (2) 60
wlle b (2) 61
tyrone (3) 62
wlle b (3) 63
tyrone (4) 64
wlle b (4) 65
buffalo war 66
flowers 67
pork chops 68
now my first wife never did come out
of her room 69
the way it was 70
admontons 71
v
■ good news about the earth (1972)
about the earth
after kent state 77
being property once myself 78
the way t was 79
the lost baby poem 80
later i’ll say 81
apology 82
lately 83
the ’70s 84
listen children 85
driving through new england 86
the news 87
the bodies broken on 88
song 89
prayer 90

heroes
afrca 93
i am high on the man called crazy 94
earth 95
for the brd who flew aganst our wndow
one mornng and broke hs natural neck 96
God send easter 97
so close 98
wse: havng the ablty to perceve and adopt
the best means for accomplshng an end. 99
malcolm 100
eldrdge 101
to bobby seale 102
for her hiding place 103
richard penniman 104
daddy 105
poem for my ssters 106
the knd of man he s 107

some jesus
adam and eve 111
v
can 112
moses 113
solomon 114
job 115
danel 116
jonah 117
john 118
mary 119
joseph 120
the callng of the dscples 121
the rasng of lazarus 122
palm sunday 123
good frday 124
easter sunday 125
sprng song 126

■ Uncollected Poems (1973–1974)
Phlls Wheatley Poetry Festval 129
All of Us Are All of Us 130

■ an ordinary woman (1974)
sisters
n salem 135
ssters 136
leanna’s poem 137
on the brth of boman 138
salt 139
a storm poem 140
god’s mood 141
new bones 142
harriet 143
roots 144
come home from the movies 145
to ms. ann 146
my boys 147
last note to my grls 148
a vst to gettysburg 149
montcello 150
v
to a dark moses 151
Kali 152
ths mornng 153

i agree with the leaves
the lesson of the fallng leaves 157
i am running into a new year 158
the comng of Kal 159
she nssts on me 160
she understands me 161
she s dreamng 162
her love poem 163
calmng Kal 164
 am not done yet 165
the poet 166
turnng 167
my poem 168
lucy one-eye 169
if mama 170
i was born in a hotel 171
light 172
cuttng greens 173
jacke robnson 174
i went to the valley 175
at last we killed the roaches 176
n the evenngs 177
breaklght 178
some dreams hang in the air 179
the carver 180
let there be new flowering 181
the thirty eighth year 182

■ Uncollected Poems (ca. 1975)
Annversary 5/10/74 187
November 1, 1975 188
“We Do Not Know Very Much About
Luclle’s Inner Lfe” 189
x