5 poems by Lucille Clifton

Lucille Clifton 1936-2010

Both Lucille Clifton and her mother survived a child they gave birth to. Indeed, Lucille's strength and forbearance was inspired by her mother. In the poem "fury", Lucille Clifton recalls her father burning her mother's poetry in a furnace while saying no wife of his would be a poet. (1) And, in an anecdote about herself as a child, "On Strength Gotten from Others," she says:


'When I was 5 years old I forgot my piece. It was the annual Christmas program of Macedonia Baptist Church-a splendid affair-and all of the young Sunday school members had been given poems and recitations to memorize. I forgot mine. I remember standing there on stage in my new Christmas dress, trying not to cry as the church members smiled, nodded and murmured encouragement from the front row.

"Go 'head, baby."
"Say it now, Luc."
"Come on now, baby"
But I couldn't remember, and to hide my deep humiliation, my embarrassment, I became sullen, angry.
"I don' wanna."
And I stood there with my mouth poked out.

It was a scandal! This fresh young nobody baby standing in front of the Lord in His own house talking about what she don't want! I could feel the disapproval pouring over my new dress. Then, like a great tidal wave from the ocean of God, my sanctified mother poured down the Baptist aisle, huge as love, her hand outstretched toward mine.

"Come on, baby," she smiled, then turned to address the church: "She don't have to do nothing she don't want to do."'(2)


Born Thelma Lucille Sayles, on June 27, 1936 in Depew, New York, Lucille Clifton moved to Buffalo with her family while she was a girl. As a child she learned to speak Polish as well as English.(3) Her mother never graduated high school, but Lucille said: "Both my parents were word people."(4) Lucille graduated from Fredonia State Teachers College after attending Howard University on a scholarship. At Howard she had met the poets Amiri Barka (LeRoi Jones) and Sterling Brown. She became acquainted with Robert Hayden at Fredonia, and he found her works worthy of the YW-YMCA Poetry Center Discovery Award. This led to the publication of her first poetry collection, "Good Times" in 1969. The New York Times ranked "Good Times" as one of the 10 best books of that year.

She had 6 children with Fred Clifton whom she married in 1958. Indeed she published her first book of poetry while raising 6 children. " Why do you think my poems are so short?"(5)

Among her many awards were two Pulitzer nominations, one for her collection "Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir," which won a Juniper Prize from U Mass. She was Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1974-1985, and in 2007 she won the Ruth Lilly Poetry prize.

Lucille Clifton once said, "I write about being human." (6) Her poetry contains only lower case letters, sparse punctuation, and runs mostly fewer than twenty lines.

After a long battle with cancer, Lucille Clifton died February 13, 2010.

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Webliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucille_Clifton

http://project1.caryacademy.org/echoes/poet_Lucille_Clifton/Defaultclifton.htm


http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/02/remembering-lucille-clift...


http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/79


NPR Interview May 22, 2007
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10329530


Lucille Clifton Reads:

cream of wheat
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123771204


wishes for sons (beginning at 20:52)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/02/culturetopia_safe_word_edition.html


Notes
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/20/AR20100220034...

2. http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/clifton/clifton-biobib.html

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depew,_New_York

4. May 22, 2007 NPR interview http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10329530

5. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/02/remembering-lucille-clift...

6. NPR interview see " wishes for sons" above in Clifton Reads

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[keanghiero]

No doubt: the last one is my favorite.

Thanks, dear James.

All the best

Kean

[Poemsapennyeach]

Well...just very interesting and wonderful...

[CeeGeeZ]

Poems relevant to the minutiae of living-no celebutancy: thank you.

[andrewnorris1]

Another new and well researched discovery here. Lucille Clifton speaks for a whole section of our community that we rarely have a glimpse into. Moving pieces, honestly written. The last one, for J Byrd, is especially moving. I remember the events and I am so touched that Ms Clifton gave that poor man a voice. Great work, James

[blythe025]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I have a new poet to go read and read and read. I haven't heard of her writing before this, but she's fabulous.

[Idlinfarm]

Thank you for this and for all the information on the side. Beautiful reading of powerful poems.