The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni by Nikki Giovanni Read Free Book Online

i’m a big girl
    i don’t cry
    or anything
    i have a great big bed
    to roll around
    in and lots of space
    and i don’t dream
    bad dreams
    like i used
    to have that you
    were leaving me
    anymore
    now that you’re gone
    i don’t dream
    and no matter
    what you think
    i’m not lonely
    sleeping
    all alone

Love Poem
    (For Real)
    it’s so hard to love
    people
    who will die soon
    the sixties have been one
    long funeral day
    the flag flew at half-mast
    so frequently
    seeing it up
    i wondered what was wrong
    it will go back
    to half
    on inauguration day
    (though during the johnson love
    in the pole
    was cut
    the mourning wasn’t
    official)
    the Jews are seeking
    sympathy
    cause there isn’t one Jew
    (and few circumcised women)
    in the cabinet
    old mother no dick plans
    to keep it
    bare
    it’s impossible to love
    a Jew
    united quakers and crackers
    for death, inc.
    are back in the driver’s seat
    it hertz
    and i pledge allegiance
    to the removal of all
    pain
    it’s masochistic
    (derived from colored
    meaning sick to kiss massa)
    to love honkies
    riderless horses
    backward boots
    the eternal flame of the flammable
    Black Man
    who does not plan to screw
    honkies to death
    it’s so easy to love
    Black Men
    they must not die anymore
    and we must not die
    with america
    their day of mourning
    is our first international
    holiday
    it’s a question of power
    which we must wield
    if it is not
    to be wielded
    against
    us

For an Intellectual Audience
    i’m a happy moile
    the opposite of which
    is an unhappy
    womblie
    and the only way you’ll ever
    understand
    this poem
    is if you sit
    on your ear
    three times a day
    facing south
    justa whistling
    dixie
    while nikki picks
    her nose
    if you miss nose
    picking time
    then you must collect
    three and one half milograms
    of toe jam
    and give it to barbara’s cat
    and if you can’t find
    barbara’s cat
    then how you gonna call
    yourself
    a black man?

Black Power
    (For All the Beautiful Black Panthers East)
    But the whole thing is a miracle—See?
    We were just standing there
    talking—not touching or smoking
    Pot
    When this cop told
    Tyrone
    Move along buddy—take your whores
    outa here
    And this tremendous growl
    From out of nowhere
    Pounced on him
    Nobody to this very day
    Can explain
    How it happened
    And none of the zoos or circuses
    Within fifty miles
    Had reported
    A panther
    Missing

Seduction
    one day
    you gonna walk in this house
    and i’m gonna have on a long African
    gown
    you’ll sit down and say “The Black…”
    and i’m gonna take one arm out
    then you—not noticing me at all—will say “What about
    this brother…”
    and i’m going to be slipping it over my head
    and you’ll rap on about “The revolution…”
    while i rest your hand against my stomach
    you’ll go on—as you always do—saying
    â€œI just can’t dig…”
    while i’m moving your hand up and down
    and i’ll be taking your dashiki off
    then you’ll say “What we really need…”
    and i’ll be licking your arm
    and “The way I see it we ought to…”
    and unbuckling your pants
    â€œAnd what about the situation…”
    and taking your shorts off
    then you’ll notice
    your state of undress
    and knowing you you’ll just say
    â€œNikki,
    isn’t this counterrevolutionary…?”

Word Poem
    (Perhaps Worth Considering)
    as things be / come
    let’s destroy
    then we can destroy
    what we be / come
    let’s build
    what we become
    when we dream

The Dance Committee
    (Concerning Jean-Léon Destiné)
    I am the token negro
    I sit in the colored section with Fanon in hand
    (to demonstrate my militancy)
    and a very dry martini
    (ingredients: yellow grass and a green faggot
    over lightly)
    while circumcised flies buzz brassy smells over my head
    The women (obviously my superiors)
    White sharp