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1994
i was leaving my fifty-eighth year
when a thumb of ice
stamped itself hard near my heart
you have your own story
you know about the fears the tears
the scar of disbelief
you know that the saddest lies
are the ones we tell ourselves
you know how dangerous it is
to be born with breasts
you know how dangerous it is
to wear dark skin
i was leaving my fifty-eighth year
when i woke into the winter
of a cold and mortal body
thin icicles hanging off
the one mad nipple weeping
have we not been good children
did we not inherit the earth
but you must know all about this
from your own shivering life
Lucille Clifton is a poet, fiction writer, and author of children’s books. Her volume, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1969–1999, won the 2000 National Book Award for Poetry.
In 2007 she received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, which honors a living U.S. poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition. This year, 2010, she was awarded the Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America in honor of “distinguished lifetime service to American poetry.” Lucille Clifton passed away just a few weeks ago, on February 13. The poem “1994” is from The Terrible Stories © 1996, published by BOA Editions, Ltd., and is used with permission.
Here's something you might be interested in.
1994
1994
i was leaving my fifty-eighth year
when a thumb of ice
stamped itself hard near my heart
you have your own story
you know about the fears the tears
the scar of disbelief
you know that the saddest lies
are the ones we tell ourselves
you know how dangerous it is
to be born with breasts
you know how dangerous it is
to wear dark skin
i was leaving my fifty-eighth year
when i woke into the winter
of a cold and mortal body
thin icicles hanging off
the one mad nipple weeping
have we not been good children
did we not inherit the earth
but you must know all about this
from your own shivering life
Lucille Clifton is a poet, fiction writer, and author of children’s books. Her volume, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1969–1999, won the 2000 National Book Award for Poetry.
In 2007 she received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, which honors a living U.S. poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition. This year, 2010, she was awarded the Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America in honor of “distinguished lifetime service to American poetry.” Lucille Clifton passed away just a few weeks ago, on February 13. The poem “1994” is from The Terrible Stories © 1996, published by BOA Editions, Ltd., and is used with permission.
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