saw Lucille in thes on a Poetry Reading tour, The poem about her hips made me shout amen being Native American and not a white Barbie Doll I related to that poem, There were a few in this volume too that spoke to me as well, Also some I couldn't quite relate too, But those were the ones that had me wrapped up tight in the beat type rhythms of her poems, Book RiotRead Harder Challenge: Read an entire poetry collection
“wont you celebrate with me” changed everything
favorites/revisit: imagining bear begin here night vision the yeti poet returns to his village to tell his story samson predicts gaza from the philadelphia fire brothers "i am used to the heft of it
sitting against my rib,
used to the ridges of forest,
used to the way my thumb
slips into the sea as i pull
it tight.
something is sweet
in the thick odor of flesh
burning and sweating and bearing young,
i have learned to carry it
the way a poor man learns
to carry everything, "
atlas
Lucille Clifton
one of the best poetry collections ever to exist
"You kiss my brother mouth,
the rest is silence, " A few of my faves
thel
was my first landscape,
red brown as the clay
of her georgia,
sweet attic of a woman,
repository of old songs,
there was such music in her
she would sit, shy as wren
humming alone and lonely
amid broken promises,
amid the sweet broken bodies
of birds.
for roddy
i am imagining this of you,
turned away from breath
as you turned from my body,
refusing to defile what you adored
i am imagining rejuvenated bones
rising from the dead floor where
they found you, rising and running
back into the life you loved,
dancing as you would dance
towards me, wherever, whose ever i am.
cigarettes
my father burned us all, ash
fell from his hand onto our beds,
onto our table and chairs,
ours was the roof the sirens
rushed to at night
mistaking the glow of his pain
for flame, nothing is burning here,
my father would laugh, ignoring
my charred pillow, ignoring his own
smouldering halls,
trying to understand this life
who did i fail, who
did i cease to protect
that i should wake each morning
facing the cold north
perhaps there is a cart
somewhere in history
of children crying "sister
save us" as she walks away.
the woman walks into my dreams
dragging her old habit,
i turn from her, shivering,
to begin another afternoon
of rescue, rescue, "The Book of Light" is divided into three sections: reflection, lightning bolt and splendor, Clifton's poems are luminous, painful and deep, I read her book in one sitting, mostly because there was something so immersive about her writing, but there were some poems like "song at midnight," "it was a dream," "night vision," and "move" that made me stop and think and wonder and mourn.
"Move" is about thebombing in Philadelphia that was authorized by the government, killing eleven and destroying sixtyone homes in the neighborhood, I love Lucille Clifton's poetry and I get it, I read her selections over and over and turn them around and around in my mind, It's exhilirating to be touched by words so deeply, “the earth is a living thing
is a black shambling bear
ruffling its wild back and tossing
mountains into the sea
is a black hawk circling
the burying ground circling the bones
picked clean and discarded
is a fish black blind in the belly of water
is a diamond blind in the black belly of coal
is a black and living thing
is a favorite child
of the universe
feel her rolling her hand
in its kinky hair
feel her brushing it clean” Some of Clifton's poems touch me and some blow right passed me.
Some poems arefor me and others arestar, I settle forstars, but I'm uncomfortable, Maybe a closer reading, a third reading I don't know, Divided into three parts, with the first part reflection being poems about childhood and family and survival, ending with that brilliant and famous poem:
wont you celebrate with me
what i shaped into
a kind of life i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay.
my one hand holding tight
my other hand come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed,
The second part is entitled lightning bolt , was my favourite part, more outwardlooking than the first part yet still selfquestioning, selfassessing, with more uncertainty and gloomier than the first part of the collection.
And excellent poems such as this one:
each morning i pull myself
out of despair
from nights of coals and a tongue
blistered with smiling
the step past the mother bed
is a high step
the walk through the widows door
is a long walk
and who are these voices calling
from every mirrored thing
say it coward say it
Then the last part is splendor , mythological and spiritual and very fascinating.
I loved this book, a fantastic opening to this new year,
I like her superman poems the best, the sparseness is good but I wish she used more imagery, “i too am blessed with
the one gift you cherish
to feel the living move in me
and to be unafraid, ”
god, I love her Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York in, and educated at the State University of New York at Fredonia and at Howard University.
Her awards include the Juniper Prize for Poetry, two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry, an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
She has taught at the University of California at Santa Cruz and American University in Washington, D, C. and is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St, Marys College of Maryland.
"In the extraordinary work of The Book of Light she Clifton flies higher and strikes deeper than ever, Poem after poem exhilarates and inspires awe at the manifestation of such artistic and spiritual powerOne of the most authentic and profound living American poets, "Denise Levertov
"Cliftons latest collection clearly demonstrates why she was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, These poems contain all the simplicity and grace readers have come to expect from her work, "Publishers Weekly starred review
Other titles by Lucille Clifton from Consortium:
Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems BOA Editions,PBX HC
Good Woman BOA Editions,PB
Next BOA Editions,PB
Quilting BOA Editions,PB
terrible stories BOA Editions,PBHC climbing
a woman precedes me up the long rope,
her dangling braids the color of rain.
maybe i should have had braids,
maybe i should have kept the body i started,
slim and possible as a boy's bone,
maybe i should have wanted less,
maybe i should have ignored the bowl in me
burning to be filled,
maybe i should have wanted less,
the woman passes the notch in the rope
marked Sixty, i rise toward it, struggling
hand over hungry hand I wanted to like this volume more, Some of the poems "climbing," "june," "if i should" offer taught visions of pain and memory that make me want to penetrate the surface of the words to better understand the sentiments taking refuge there, waiting to be revealed and understood.
But most of the rest of the poems in this volume tell too much, too immediately, or they tell everything and leave little to be explored on the reader's end.
This is an acceptable technique, but it never forces the reader to look past the language to something deeper and more enduring,
I found these poems pleasant in their observation sometimes, or pleasantly forgettable otherwise, with rare but striking exception, Some of the poems were lovely, Some were beautiful primarily because I imagined hearing Clifton read them I've listened to recordings of her read, This reminds me of a poetI think it was Dean Youngsaying that he doesn't like poetry readings and that poetry shouldn't have to be spoken aloud to come alive.
I'm still thinking on that sentiment, which seemscantankerous andkinda useful, At any rate, this is a collection where the force behind some of the poems must be conjured, and this conjuring at times feels like it shouldn't need to be done.
But the poems that will stay with me celebrate and unsettle, and that seems right, beautiful apart from the no homo ruth/naomi poem I had to read this for a school project, I mean, it was fine, It's not the best poetry I've read but it's certainly not bad, Divided into the three sections: "reflection," "lightning bolt," and "splendor"these poems are luminescent, painful, curious, and revelatory, Even though I read the book straight through with some pauses for savoring, these are poems that I will read again and again, "Won't you celebrate with me / what I have shaped into / a kind of life" Good poetry "casts light," and that is what Lucille Clifton aims to do in The Book of Light.
The Book of Light could effectively be called The Book of Lucille, Clifton, I believe, is doing two things:She is defining what it means to be human, andShe is seeking where the sublime can be found in human existence.
This she accomplishes through exploring light in its many forms, Her very name means "light" she speaks of and birth and glistening jewels and flame, The culmination and conclusion of her focus on light is in her poem in seven parts, "brothers," onehalf of a conversation between God and Lucifer, whose name comes from the same root as "Lucille," and means "lightbearer.
"
Clifton illuminates, too, the evils done to othersoften women of the past, Her voice is one of fury and fierceness, though it is not unhopeful, Her depersonalization, even of herself, is noteworthy here: she lowercases nearly all of her words, The only words in the bodies of her poems that she regularly capitalizes are "God" and secondperson pronouns referring to God "You," "Your, She knows what it is to be human because she understands what it is to be treated as less than one, and she honors through her words others who have experienced mistreatment.
The Book of Light is also a book about darkness,
Clifton's voice carries the reader through the significance of one's roots, the challenges and beauty of femininity, the complexities of race, Her poetry is emotional and spiritual, often drawing from raw experiences and the language or narratives of Scripture, Though her words are often difficult, sad, mournful, angry, somehow the work as a whole is joyful, patient, intelligent, caring, Lucille Clifton is a multiple prize winning poet and distinguished professor, She is considered to be great poet and her books gain great reviews, But her poems do not speak to me, I enjoyed some of the earlier poems in the book but particularly the later poems left me cold and unmoved, I love lucille!!! who among us can imagine ourselves unimagined who among us can speak with so fragile tongue and remain proud
here yet be dragons lucille clifton Third book I have read by her, same result.
Outdatedstyle poetry. And her stories just aren't that interesting,
Her poems about a group known as MOVE are just too onesided and simplistic,
They show no understanding of what it must have been like for the neighbors living near them, No one should have to tolerate such behavior, The group needs to shoulder some responsibility for the tragedy that finally occurred, Just look up MOVE on Wikipedia to find out more, Shows me whats possible as a woman, a human being, and a poet, Lucille Clifton's poems have always hit me right in the heartstrings, and this beautiful book is no exception, I've read some of these poems before in other collections "further note to clark" is one of my favorite of all her poems, but most of them were new to me.
And they're all stunning, important, and so neededlike all good poetry is,
Five bright because I'll never stop being grateful for Clifton's voice and her potent poetry,
Beginning with a list of ways light is refracted, this brief and sharp collection of short and freeform poems explores living people, real places, mythical/biblical and even comicbook characters in new and resonant ways.
I look forward to reading more Lucille Clifton,
In no particular order, these poems:
Further Note To Clark
Here Yet Be Dragons
Leda
Begin Here
The Earth Is A Living Thing
The Women You Are Accustomed To.
Claim Now The Book Of Light Illustrated By Lucille Clifton Displayed As Audio Book
Lucille Clifton