The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni (37 page)

a bright sun flower yellow tiger, 183

a flying saucer landed, 276

africa is a young man bathing, 177

all i gotta do, 111

all problems being, 232

An amoeba is lucky it's so small, 331

and always there are the children, 223

And every now and then I think, 13

and sometimes i sit, 138

And this silly wire, 12

and when i was all alone, 84

And when she was lonely, 343

as things be/come, 36

as we all probably realize, 75

 

Bitter Black Bitterness, 18

brooks start with cloud condensation, 98

But I had called the office, 14

But the whole thing is a miracle—See?, 34

 

Cancers are a serious condition, 339

cause nobody deals with Aretha, 103

childhood remembrances are always a drag, 53

 

Dance with me, 338

diamonds are mined, 356

Don't look now, 227

dreams have a way, 164

Dykes of the world are united, 41

 

Eagles are a majestic species, 320

ever been kidnapped, 109/

ever notice how it's only the ugly, 74

ever want to crawl, 140

Every time the earth moves, 321

 

finding myself still fascinated, 264

For three hours (too short for me), 6

Frogs burrow the mud, 284

 

He always had pretty legs, 266

He has a girl who has flaxen hair, 4

her grandmother called her from the playground, 143

he was just a little, 93

His headstone said, 51

homosexuality, 127

Honkies always talking ‘bout, 21

how do poets write, 245

how do you write a poem, 136

 

i always liked house cleaning, 102

I always like summer, 59

i always wanted to be a bridesmaid, 151

i am 25 years old, 86

I am always lonely, 11

i am a teller of tales, 215

i am in a box, 240

i am old and need, 217

I am she, 342

I am the token negro, 39

I came to the crowd seeking friends, 5

i can be, 96

i don't want you to think, 134

I dreamed of you last night, 274

if I can't do, 269

if music is the most universal language, 206

if she wore her dresses, 200

if they put you in a jack-in-the-box poet, 129

if trees could talk, 120

if you plant grain, 119

if you sang songs i could make a request, 82

if you've got the key, 294

I hang on the edge, 332

i have all, 204

i have built my tower on the wings of a spider, 174

i have considered, 242

i have nine guppies, 147

i haven't done anything, 292

i haven't written a poem in so long, 262

i know i haven't grown but, 280

i know my upper arms will grow, 203

I love you, 334

I mean it's only natural that if, 64

i'm a happy moile, 33

i'm giving up, 167

i'm leaving at five, 189

i'm not lonely, 30

i move on feeling and have learned to distrust those who don't, 351

in africa night walks, 220

in an age of napalmed children, 182

In front of the bank building, 235

in life, 81

in my younger years, 67

In the beginning was the word, 54

in the december of my springs, 202

i only want to, 192

i remember learning you jump, 156

i see wonder, 152

i shall save my poems, 285

I should write a poem, 272

I stood still and was a mushroom on the forest green, 7

i suppose living, 207

I think hands must be very important, 304

it's a drag, 101

It's a journey, 333

it's funny that smells and sounds return, 169

It's intriguing to me that “bookmaker” is a gambling, 301

it's not the crutches we decry, 238

it's so hard to love, 31

it's so important to record, 60

It starts with a hand, 15

it's wednesday night baby, 114

it was good for the virgin mary, 122

it was very pleasant, 158

it wouldn't have been, 187

i used to dream militant, 106

i usta wonder who i'd be, 62

i've noticed i'm happier, 205

i wanta say just gotta say something, 70

i wanted to sing, 139

i want to take, 161

i want to write an image, 218

I was born in the congo, 125

i will be bitter, 254

i wish i could have been oppressed, 128

i wish i were, 133

I wrote a good omelet, 337

i wrote a poem, 253

 

like a will-o'-the-wisp in the night, 208

like my mother and her grandmother before, 199

 

Moving slowly, 326

 

Nigger, 19

No one asked us, 357

Not more than we can bear, 307

 

once a snowflake fell, 148

one day, 35

one ounce of truth benefits, 173

on my bedroom wall hang a poster, 160

on the bite of a kola nut, 176

on the road to damascus, 115

 

Planes fly patterns, 345

poetry is a tressel, 210

poetry is motion graceful, 221

 

rain is, 100

 

Scarcity in oil and gas, 287

scared?, 47

she didn't like to think in abstracts, 230

she often wondered why people spoke, 288

she realized, 258

she wanted to be a blade, 275

so he said: you ain't got no talent, 135

So I met this man, 9

some small island birthed, 116

sometimes, 132

sometimes i feel like i just get in, 57

sometimes you hear a question like “what is, 165

somewhere there was a piano playing, 247

 

take a note and spin it around spin it around don't, 110

The art of Charles White is like making love, 316

the birds flew south, 209

The Black Revolution is passing you bye, 23

The drums, 318

the eye we are told, 271

The face in the window, 310

the f.b.i. came by my house three weeks ago, 185

The first poem, 299

the heat, 99

the last time i was home, 144

The laws of science teach us a pound of gold weighs as, 211

the moon shines down, 293

the mother palm had plaited her daughter's, 92

there are no reservations, 94

there are sounds, 281

there is a hunger, 163

There is always something, 260

There is an old story, 327

There is nothing, 322

there is something, 213

There were fields where once we walked, 10

the white man is, 123

the white man sent me, 130

The whole point of writing you is pointless, 27

the women gather, 197

the world is not a pleasant place, 153

they ain't gonna never get, 118

they clapped when we landed, 179

They had a rebellion in Washington this year, 52

they tell me that i'm beautiful i know, 154

thinning hair, 181

This is not a poem, 358

those things, 155

though I do wonder, 278

to tommy who:, 91

Trees are never felled, 319

 

Vowels, 341

 

walking down park, 107

we all start, 97

we are all imprisoned in the castle of our skins, 175

We are like a field, 344

We are not lovers, 291

we make up our faces, 282

We met in, 8

we stood there waiting, 191

we tend to fear old age, 250

We went there to confer, 3

What can I, a poor Black woman, do to destroy America? This, 49

What would a little girl think, 313

when all the cards are in, 113

when i die i hope no one who ever hurt me cries, 171

when i nap, 159

when i was very little, 146

When I write I like to write, 347

when she was little, 131

Where are your heroes, my little Black ones, 45

While it is true, 16

Wilmington is a funni Negro, 24

 

“yeah” she said “my man's gone too, 149

You, 88

You never know, 330

you say i'm as cold, 290

You see, 361

you see, my whole life, 71

You see boy, 58

you've just got to dig sly, 68

You were gone, 346