Section: «Poems»

Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings: artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.); a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").

An Almost Made Up Poem

I see you drinking at a fountain with tinyblue hands, no, your hands are not tinythey are small, and the fountain is in Francewhere you wrote me that..

© Charles Bukowski

Bluebird

there's a bluebird in my heart thatwants to get outbut I'm too tough for him,I say, stay in there, I'm not goingto let anybody seeyou.there's a..

© Charles Bukowski

Alone With Everybody

the flesh covers the boneand they put a mindin there andsometimes a soul,and the women breakvases against the wallsand the men drink toomuchand..

© Charles Bukowski

A Smile To Remember

we had goldfish and they circled around and aroundin the bowl on the table near the heavy drapescovering the picture window andmy mother, always..

© Charles Bukowski

For Saundra

I wanted to writea poemthat rhymesbut revolution doesn't lenditself to be-boppingthen my neighborwho thinks i hateasked - do you ever writetree poems..

© Nikki Giovanni

The Laws of Motion

(for Harlem Magic)The laws of science teach us a pound of gold weighs asmuch as a pound of flour though if dropped from anyundetermined height in..

© Nikki Giovanni

Sky Diving

I hang on the edgeof this universesinging off-keytalking too loudembracing myselfto cushion the fallI shall tumbleinto deep spacenever in this formor..

© Nikki Giovanni

The Great Pax Whitie

In the beginning was the wordAnd the word wasDeathAnd the word was niggerAnd the word was death to all niggersAnd the word was death to all lifeAnd..

© Nikki Giovanni

Walking Down Park

walking down parkamsterdamor columbus do you ever stopto think what it looked likebefore it was an avenuedid you ever stop to thinkwhat you..

© Nikki Giovanni

A Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

Trees are never felled . . . in summer . . . Not when the fruit . . .is yet to be borne . . . Never before the promise . . . is fulfilled . . .Not..

© Nikki Giovanni

Possum Crossing

Backing out the drivewaythe car lights cast an eerie glowin the morning fog centeringon movement in the rain slick streetHitting brakes I anticipate..

© Nikki Giovanni

Rain

rain isgod's sperm fallingin the receptivewoman how elseto spenda rainy dayother than with youseeking sun and starsand heavenly bodieshow else to..

© Nikki Giovanni

All I Gotta Do

all i gotta dois sit and waitsit and waitand it's gonna findmeall i gotta dois sit and waitif i can learn howwhat i need to dois sit and waitcause..

© Nikki Giovanni

The Laws of Motion

The laws of science teach us a pound of gold weighs asmuch as a pound of flour though if dropped from anyundetermined height in their natural state..

© Nikki Giovanni

They Clapped

they clapped when we landedthinking africa was just an extensionof the black worldthey smiled as we taxied home to be metblack to black face not..

© Nikki Giovanni

When I Die

when i die i hope no one who ever hurt me criesand if they cry i hope their eyes fall outand a million maggots that had made up their brainscrawl..

© Nikki Giovanni

Knoxville, Tennessee

I always like summerbestyou can eat fresh cornfrom daddy's gardenand okraand greensand cabbageand lots ofbarbecueand buttermilkand homemade..

© Nikki Giovanni

A Journey

It's a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow passenger . . .Though the rail..

© Nikki Giovanni

Poetry

poetry is motion gracefulas a fawngentle as a teardropstrong like the eyefinding peace in a crowded roomwe poets tend to thinkour words are..

© Nikki Giovanni

My First Memory ( Of Librarians )

This is my first memory:A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creakywood floorA line of green shades—bankers' lights—down the centerHeavy..

© Nikki Giovanni

Legacies

her grandmother called her from the playground"yes, ma'am""i want chu to learn how to make rolls" said the oldwoman proudlybut the little girl didn't..

© Nikki Giovanni

Crutches

it's not the crutches we decryit's the need to move forwardthough we haven't the strengthwomen aren't allowed to needso they develop ritualssince we..

© Nikki Giovanni

Seduction

One dayyou gonna walk in this houseand i'm gonna have a long Africangownyou'll sit down and say 'The Black...'and i'm gonna take one arm outthen..

© Nikki Giovanni

Winter Poem

once a snowflake fellon my brow and i lovedit so much and i kissedit and it was happy and called its cousinsand brothers and a webof snow engulfed me..

© Nikki Giovanni

Habits

or loving youit may be a habit that once aquiredis never lostbut you say i'm foolishof course you love mebut being loved of courseis not the same as..

© Nikki Giovanni