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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: WALKER, ALICE Matches Found: 234 Walker, Alice Poet's Biography 234 poems available by this author (IN ANSWER TO YOUR SILLY QUESTION) First Line: People have eaten fried fish Last Line: I adore the people!' %so the people's tribunal approaches 10-JAN-73 First Line: I sit for hours staring at my own right hand Last Line: I have pardoned the dead %enough 1971 First Line: I have learned this winter that, yes Last Line: It is those faces, we know, %that should have died ABDUCTION OF SAINTS First Line: As it was with christ, so it is with malcolm Last Line: And the body %was stolen away AFRICAN IMAGES First Line: Beads around %my neck Last Line: Sifting the salt sea %air AFTER THE SHRINK First Line: Without my melancholia I am lonely Last Line: Round and round I travel %enduring my comfort ARMAH OCTOBER 12, 1990 First Line: He came %in flowing robes Last Line: Than his books %to love AT FIRST First Line: At first I did not fight it Last Line: Sort of suffering for you, %or so I thought ATTENTIVENESS First Line: When you can no longer Last Line: That attentiveness alone %does not feed you AWAKENING First Line: When we met %we were already Last Line: Eyes %in the day BALLAD OF THE BROWN GIRL First Line: I've got two %hundred Last Line: Baby %take - ? BAPTISM First Line: They dunked me in the creek Last Line: Socks and his bullfrong spoors %gluing up my face BE NOBODY'S DARLING / BE AN OUTCAST Poem Text Last Line: Among your dead Subject(s): Self-reliance; Conduct Of Life BE NOBODY'S DARLING / BE AN OUTCAST Poem Text BE NOBODY'S DARLING / BE AN OUTCAST Last Line: Be an outcast. %qualified to live %among your dead Variant Title(s): Outcas Subject(s): Kent State University - Riot, 1970 BEAST First Line: Whenever I do not create Last Line: Shake the concrete %off your back BEYOND WHAT First Line: We reach for destinies beyond Last Line: Call it a council between equals BLACK MAIL First Line: Stick the finger inside Last Line: Burning righteous, %but burning blind BLACK PRINCE First Line: Very proud %he barely asked directions Last Line: In chilly london %alone BURIAL Poem Text First Line: They have fenced in the dirt road Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Exiles; Estrangement; Outcasts BURIAL First Line: They have fenced in the dirt road Last Line: Them sad. But seen from the angle of her death Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Exiles CHIC FREEDOM'S REFLECTION First Line: One day %marilyn marched Last Line: Toe %in a badge CHIC FREEDOM'S REFLECTION First Line: One day CLUTTER-UP PEOPLE First Line: The odd stillness of your body Last Line: And other too comprehensible %things COMPULSORY CHAPEL First Line: A quiet afternoon %the speaker Last Line: - let me assure you - %I sleep alone CONFESSION First Line: All winter long %I've borne the knife that presses Last Line: The truth %truth is killing me CRUCIFIXIONS First Line: I am not an idealist, nor a cynic Last Line: Other, made by someone else. That is %what we are prisoners of DEDICATION First Line: For two who %slipped away Last Line: Unfolding. %rest DEMOCRATIC ORDER: SUCH THINGS IN TWENTY YEARS UNDERSTOOD First Line: My father %(back blistered Last Line: For one damn %voting day DIAMONDS ON LIZ'S BOSOM Last Line: On some of the whitest necks %in your town DIAMONDS ON LIZ'S BOSOM DID THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR MOTHER? Poem Text First Line: I love a man who is not worth Subject(s): Men; Worry DID THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR MOTHER? First Line: I love a man who is not worth Last Line: Unclench my teeth long enough %to tell him so Subject(s): Men; Worry EACH ONE, PULL ONE Poem Text First Line: We must say it all, and as clearly Subject(s): African Americans; Writing & Writers; Artists; Negroes; American Blacks EACH ONE, PULL ONE First Line: We must say it all, and as clearly Last Line: All of us must live %or none EAGLE ROCK First Line: In the town where I was born Last Line: The innocent eager 4-h club EARLY LOSSES: A REQUIEM. PART 1 First Line: Nyanu was appointed %as my lord. The husband chosen Last Line: The sound itself is all Subject(s): African Americans - Women EARLY LOSSES: A REQUIEM. PART 2. THE CHILD Poem Text First Line: A sound like a small wind Last Line: The sound itself is all Subject(s): African Americans - Women EARLY LOSSES: A REQUIEM. PART 2. THE CHILD First Line: A sound like a small wind Last Line: Her only treasure %and never spent Subject(s): African Americans - Women ENDING First Line: I so admired you then; Last Line: And venomous face %took our love away ENEMY First Line: In a gray, battle-scarred lenningrad Last Line: Let it be said %for children EVEN AS I HOLD YOU Last Line: Even as I hold you %I am letting go EVERY MORNING First Line: Every morning I exercise Last Line: My fingers are eloquent; %they never sweat EVERY MORNING EXCUSE First Line: Tonight it is the wind (or not the wine Last Line: Only the rain ... %and my shoes too tight EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (1) First Line: Speaking of death %and decay Last Line: Way, maybe - %to being daffodils EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (2) First Line: It is not about that Last Line: Uncannily %of life EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (3) First Line: My nausea has nothing Last Line: Something I ate %at your mother's EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (4) First Line: To keep up a Last Line: In the dark one night %I lost my way EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (5) First Line: If I were a patriot Last Line: As it is, %let us just go EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (6) First Line: My father liked very much Last Line: Himself up %to hear them EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (7) First Line: I like to see you try Last Line: Felt any of the tiredness %in your bones EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (8) First Line: Making our bodies touch Last Line: Quarrel %unil tomorrow? EXERCISES ON THEMES FROM LIFE (9) First Line: My fear of burial Last Line: How used I am %to the spring ...! EXPECT NOTHING Poem Text First Line: Expect nothing. Live frugally Subject(s): Conduct Of Life EXPECT NOTHING First Line: Expect nothing. Live frugally Last Line: But expect nothing. Live frugally %on surprise FACING THE WAY First Line: The fundamental question about revolution Last Line: Just as it failed to comfort me %when I was poor FAMILY OF First Line: Sometimes I feel so bad Last Line: And murdered quite sufficiently, too, I think, %until the next time FEW SIRENS First Line: Today I am at home Last Line: Spoiled %the appetite? FIRST, THEY SAID First Line: First, they said we were savages Last Line: For the next insulting words %coming out of that mouth FIRST, THEY SAID FOR MY SISTER MOLLY WHO IN THE FIFTIES First Line: Once made a fairy rooster from Last Line: For my sister molly who in the fifties %left us FORBIDDEN THINGS First Line: They say you are not for me Last Line: Of happiness, %grieving for forbidden things FORGIVE ME IF MY PRAISES (1) Last Line: Me, who now can not praise %my work FORGIVE ME IF MY PRAISES (2) First Line: They said: %my father was not Last Line: My father was not a man. %they said FORGIVE ME IF MY PRAISES (3) First Line: Even so - %let me surprise you Last Line: That I would gladly %pretend away FORGIVE ME IF MY PRAISES (4) First Line: Open your arms. %take me on your lap Last Line: Be b. B. King to my %mean woman FORGIVE ME IF MY PRAISES (5) First Line: What I need I know Last Line: To fight with me against %my evil dreams FORGIVENESS Poem Text First Line: Each time I order her to go Subject(s): Mothers & Daughters; Women FORGIVENESS First Line: Each time I order her to go Last Line: Forgive myself %then as now Subject(s): Mothers And Daughters; Women GIFT First Line: He said: here is my soul Last Line: It shrank %to fit his hand GIFT First Line: You intend no doubt Last Line: To rouse the king %I need in you GIRL WHO DIED #1 First Line: Look!' she cried. %'I am not perfect Last Line: Until she saw exactly %how wrong she was GIRL WHO DIED #2 First Line: No doubt she was a singer Last Line: And was not born %to be 'correct.' GOOD NIGHT, WILLIE LEE, I'LL SEE YOU IN THE MORNING' First Line: Looking down into my father's Last Line: That permits a promise %of our return %at the end GRAY Poem Text First Line: I have a friend Subject(s): Love - Nature Of GRAY First Line: I have a friend Last Line: Who thinks of love %in this way HAVING EATEN TWO PILLOWS Last Line: Though I know quite well %the words to say goodbye HE SAID COME Last Line: Before the opportunity %passes away HE SAID: First Line: He said: I want you to be happy Last Line: For two days, he loved me so. %after that, I was on my own HOW POEMS ARE MADE: A DISCREDITED VIEW Poem Text First Line: Letting go / in order to hold on Subject(s): Poetry & Poets HOW POEMS ARE MADE: A DISCREDITED VIEW First Line: Letting go %in order to hold on Last Line: There is a place the gain must go. %the leftover love Subject(s): Poetry And Poets HYMN First Line: I well remember %a time when Last Line: To the child, %music I SAID TO POETRY Poem Text First Line: I said to poetry: I'm finished Subject(s): Women I SAID TO POETRY First Line: I said to poetry: I'm finished Last Line: Bullshit,' said poetry. %'bullshit,' said I Subject(s): Women I SAID TO POETRY I'M REALLY VERY FOND First Line: I'm really very fond of you Last Line: And could swim away %if forced to do so I'M REALLY VERY FOND IF THOSE PEOPLE LIKE YOU IF THERE WAS ANY JUSTICE Last Line: Seeing %save IN THESE DISSENTING TIMES First Line: I shall write of the old men I knew Last Line: I ponder the exchange %itself %and salvage mostly %the leaning IN UGANDA AN EARLY KING Last Line: Why, like balloons, %he brought some more INSTAND OF OUR PARTING First Line: I said: I cannot tell you Last Line: The instant of our parting %is with me always J, MY GOOD FRIEND (ANOTHER FOOLISH INNOCENT) First Line: It is too easy not to like Last Line: In my home town %do now JANIE CRAWFORD First Line: I love the way janie crawford Last Line: And like a queen pace %the floor JOHANN First Line: You look at me with children Last Line: With surging, brown-blond teutons %in your eyes JUDGE EVERY ONE WITH PERFECT CALM First Line: Follow the train full of bodies Last Line: They will not recall tomorrow %your judgment of today KARAMOJONGS First Line: A tall man %without clothes Last Line: Are %a hundred left KILLERS First Line: With their money they bought ignorance Last Line: The mending heart breaks %to break again KISS First Line: I was kissed once Last Line: Not anyhow looking %like aunt jemima LAST TIME Last Line: A foreign transient %like any other LIGHT BAGGAGE First Line: There is a magic %lingering after people Last Line: Fishing in the waters of experience %a slouched back against the shoulders %of the world LISTEN Last Line: Human tree and rock already, %to me LISTEN LONELY PARTICULAR First Line: When the people knew you Last Line: Marching the other way; %a lonely particular LOST MY VOICE? OF COURSE. Last Line: To speak, %nor how to trust LOVE First Line: A dark stranger %my heart searches Last Line: And belong - %to no one LOVE IS NOT CONCERNED Last Line: That the beating of your heart %should kill no one LOVE IS NOT CONCERNED MALCOLM Poem Text First Line: Those who say they knew you Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks MALCOLM First Line: Those who say they knew you Last Line: And enjoyed a joke %and loved to laugh Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965) MEDICINE First Line: Grandma sleeps with Last Line: Braided %hair MISSISSIPPI WINTER (1) First Line: If I had erased my life there Last Line: To point to his love of me %not even my apreciation MISSISSIPPI WINTER (2) First Line: When you remember me, my child Last Line: She was not happy %with fences MISSISSIPPI WINTER (3) First Line: I cradle my four-year-old daughter Last Line: In which my lessons of etiquette %will, thankfully, allow me to fail MISSISSIPPI WINTER (4) First Line: My father and mother both Last Line: Like a woman undaunted %until I reach it MOODY First Line: I am a moody woman Last Line: Always %somewhere to stop MORE LOVE TO HIS LIFE First Line: Though I at the time, had no one Last Line: That perhaps he was comic %instead of myself MORNINGS/OF AN IMPOSSIBLE LOVE First Line: On the morning you woke beside me - already thinking of Last Line: Are really easterners, you and I. The rising of the sun %brings with it our whole philosophy MY DAUGHTER IS COMING MY DAUGHTER IS COMING! Last Line: Or will she see only %the torn curtains? MY HEART HAS REOPENED TO YOU First Line: O, landscape of my birth Last Line: Know that I %am yours MY HUSBAND SAYS Last Line: Of my negative %reply MYSTERIES First Line: Your eyes are widely open flowers Last Line: And promise a secret %I must have MYSTERIES (1) First Line: The gift he gave unknowing Last Line: Branches %long grown wild MYSTERIES (2) First Line: And when she thought of him Last Line: Waiting till the feeling %should return MYSTERIES (3) First Line: But she was known to be Last Line: But would not follow %her MYSTERIES (4) First Line: And his fingers peeled Last Line: Till %she bled NATURAL STAR First Line: I am in mourning Last Line: Sing to us. Dance. %rest in peace NATURE OF THIS FLOWER IS TO BLOOM First Line: Rebellious. Living. %against the elemental crush Last Line: For its self. %revolutionary petunia NDEBELE First Line: Looking into your eyes Last Line: Your humor %escapes NEVER OFFER YOUR HEART TO SOMEONE WHO EATS HEARTS Last Line: With god %and song NEW FACE Poem Text First Line: I have learned not to worry about love Subject(s): Women NEW FACE First Line: I have learned not to worry about love Last Line: Has ever %seen Subject(s): Women NO FIXED PLACE First Line: Go where you will Last Line: That you believe %in miracles NO ONE CAN WATCH THE WASICHU Last Line: With %his face NO ONE CAN WATCH THE WASICHU NOTHING IS RIGHT Last Line: The %hug NOW THAT THE BOOK IS FINISHED Last Line: The lonely sucking of her thumb %a giant stopper in my throat NOW THAT THE BOOK IS FINISHED OLD MEN USED TO SING (1) Last Line: In their %brown suits OLD WARRIOR TERROR First Line: Did you hear? %after everything Last Line: True revolutionaries never %smile ON BEING ASKED TO LEAVE A PLACE OF HONOR FOR ONE OF COMFORT First Line: In this place of helmets and tar Last Line: As though muck %were god ON SIGHT Poem Text First Line: I am so thankful I have seen Subject(s): Nature ON SIGHT First Line: I am so thankful I have seen Last Line: If there were flags, I doubt %the trees would point. %would you? Subject(s): Nature ON STRIPPING BARK FROM MYSELF First Line: Because women are expected to keep silent about Last Line: And the sun, I am happy to fight %all outside murderers %as I see I must ONCE Poem Text First Line: Green lawn / a picket fence Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Southern States; South (u.s.) ONCE First Line: Green lawn %a picket fence Last Line: The very %tips %of her %fingers Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Southern States ONCE, AGAIN First Line: Once again simple %once again childlike Last Line: The poem opening out %into the grass OVERNIGHTS First Line: Staying overnight in a friend's house Last Line: Sometimes we are eating %other things PAGAN First Line: At home %in the countryside Last Line: Smiles like locks %and lies PART V FROM 'ONCE' First Line: It is true - %I've always loved Last Line: At a white %beach (in alabama) %nude PERFECTION First Line: Having reached perfection Last Line: The sinner can %use POEM AT THIRTY-NINE First Line: How I miss my father Last Line: Cooking, writing, chopping wood, %staring into the fire QPP First Line: The quietly pacifist peaceful Last Line: Blood, on this survival %list RAGE Poem Text First Line: In me there is a rage to defy Subject(s): Anger RAGE First Line: In me there is a rage to defy Last Line: Rams into me %like a sword REASSURANCE First Line: I must love the questions Last Line: The space %I grow into REMEMBER Poem Text First Line: Remember / when we ended Subject(s): Love - Loss Of REMEMBER REMEMBER? First Line: Remember me? %I am the girl Last Line: Hope and just %let us begin REPRESENTING THE UNIVERSE First Line: There are five people in this room Last Line: It is not enough to be interminable; %one must also be precise REVOLUTIONARY PETUNIAS Poem Text First Line: Sammy lou of rue / sent to his reward Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Murder REVOLUTIONARY PETUNIAS First Line: Sammy lou of rue %sent to his reward Last Line: Don't yall forgit to water %my purple petunias' Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Murder RIGHT TO LIFE: WHAT CAN WHITE MAN SAY TO BLACK WOMAN? First Line: What can the white man say to the black woman? Last Line: That is what the white man can say to the black woman. %we are listening S M First Line: I tell you, chickadee Last Line: If you could still weep %you would not take the job SHE SAID First Line: She said: when I was with him Last Line: You inside me, %her lips on my breasts SHE SAID SMELL OF LEBANON First Line: In balmy %iconic %prague Last Line: Of %apples SO WE'VE COME AT LAST TO FREUD First Line: Do not hold my few years Last Line: What we do have %is good SOME THINGS I LIKE ABOUT MY TRIPLE BLOODS First Line: Black relatives %you are always Last Line: And I like that %about you SONG First Line: The world is full of colored Last Line: Colorful people %tra-la-la! SONGLESS Poem Text First Line: What is the point / of being artists Subject(s): Art & Artists SONGLESS First Line: What is the point %of being artists Last Line: These are not decorations %on empty pots Subject(s): Art And Artists SOUTH: THE NAME OF HOME First Line: All that night %I prayed for eyes to see again Last Line: Nor the %number STORM First Line: Throughout the storm and party Last Line: And distinctly your age-old glance %shook the room STREAKING (A PHENOMENON FOLLOWING THE SIXTIES) First Line: The students %went out Last Line: As the decade %they were formed SUICIDE First Line: First, suicide notes should be Last Line: Adds up to %is one SUNDAY SCHOOL, CIRCA 1950 (8) Poem Text First Line: Who made you?' was always Subject(s): Religious Education; Sunday Schools; Yeshivas; Parochial Schools SUNDAY SCHOOL, CIRCA 1950 (8) First Line: Who made you?' was always Last Line: And salvage mostly %the leaning Subject(s): Religious Education TALKING TO MY GRANDMOTHER WHO DIED POOR First Line: No doubt I will end my life as poor as you Last Line: So nearly %undefeated face TELLING First Line: I want to be with you Last Line: And let heaven be heaven %at last THE OLD MEN USED TO SING Poem Text Subject(s): African-americans; Funerals; Old Age; Burials THE WAYS OF WATER Poem Text First Line: With your unknown Subject(s): Water THESE DAYS First Line: These days I think of belvie Last Line: On love. %surely the earth can be saved for us THESE DAYS THESE MORNINGS OF RAIN Last Line: And then again, %I need it all THESE MORNINGS OF RAIN THEY TAKE A LITTLE NIP Last Line: Leaving all %the weeds THEY WHO FEEL DEATH Poem Text First Line: They who feel death close as a breath Subject(s): Martyrs THEY WHO FEEL DEATH First Line: They who feel death close as a breath Last Line: In common sand %crucified THIEF First Line: I wish to own only the warmth Last Line: It has been acknowledged %I am a thief THING ITSELF First Line: Now I am going Last Line: In what gibberish %was our freedom %engraved on %our chains THOSE PEOPLE LIKE YOU First Line: If 'those people' like you Last Line: We talk about %among ourselves THREATENED First Line: Threatened by my rising need %he writes %he is afraid Last Line: Nothing to still my fear %of his fear %is said %it is this fear %that now devours %desire THREE DOLLARS CASH (4) First Line: Three dollars cash %for a pair of catalog shoes Last Line: Out %a pig TO DIE BEFORE ONE WAKES MUST BE GLAD Last Line: Sweetly %in one's most subtle smile TO THE MAN IN THE YELLOW TERRY First Line: Dawn came at six today Last Line: To a %thief? TORTURE Poem Text First Line: When they torture your mother Subject(s): Torture TORTURE First Line: When they torture your mother Last Line: They have made %start another Subject(s): Torture UNCLES First Line: They had broken teeth Last Line: Sometimes %a dime VIEW FROM ROSEHILL CEMETERY: VICKSBURG First Line: Here we have watched ten thousand Last Line: We are not quick to turn %upon our dreams WALKER First Line: When I no longer have your heart Last Line: Letters %describing my pain WARNING First Line: To love a man wholly Last Line: Bronze %in the bright sun WE ALONE Poem Text First Line: We alone can devalue gold Subject(s): Gold; Love WE ALONE First Line: We alone can devalue gold Last Line: As much as %what is scarce WE ALONE WE HAVE A BEAUTIFUL MOTHER Last Line: Everything %we know WE HAVE A MAP OF THE WORLD Last Line: Blood %to drink WELL Last Line: Like coconuts %and her red dress WELL WHAT IT FEELS LIKE Poem Text First Line: As if I've swallowed WHAT OVID TAUGHT ME First Line: What does it matter? You ask Last Line: Why don't you shut up and %get in? WHAT THE FINGER WRITES First Line: Your name scrawled on a bit of paper moves me Last Line: With luck I shall not live there %anymore WHEN GOLDA MEIR WAS IN AFRICA Poem Text WHEN GOLDA MEIR WAS IN AFRICA Last Line: But, withal, opined golda, a people of charm %and good taste Subject(s): Africa; Meir, Golda (1898-1978) WHEN YOU SEE WATER Poem Text First Line: When you see water in a stream Subject(s): Water WHEN YOU THOUGHT ME POOR Poem Text Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Poverty; Success WHILE LOVE IS UNFASHIONABLE Last Line: Let us gather blossoms %under fire WHO? Poem Text First Line: Who has not been Subject(s): Moon WHO? First Line: Who has not been Last Line: We hoped %you were safe WILL First Line: It does not impress me that I have Last Line: There's an invisible power %I respect! WINKING AT A FUNERAL Poem Text First Line: Those were the days Subject(s): Funerals WINKING AT A FUNERAL (2) First Line: Those were the days Last Line: Knew the arsonist %of the church? Subject(s): Church Burnings; Racism WINNIE MANDELA WE LOVE YOU Last Line: Of the mother %of the human race WITHOUT COMMERCIALS First Line: Listen, %stop tanning yourself Last Line: Original %as eve WOMAN IS NOT A POTTED PLANT First Line: Her roots bound %to the confines Last Line: Nor even honeysuckle or bee WOMEN (3) Poem Text First Line: They were women then Variant Title(s): Women Subject(s): African Americans - Women WOMEN (3) First Line: They were women then Last Line: Of it %themselves Variant Title(s): Wome Subject(s): African Americans - Women WOMEN OF COLOR' HAVE RARELY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WRITE First Line: Since he had few intimate friends, and little Last Line: To be as interesting as any other aspect %of his career YES, I KNOW Poem Text First Line: Yes, I know I am not Last Line: Like / this one Subject(s): African Americans – Women; Poetry & Poets YOU HAD TO GO TO FUNERALS Last Line: All eternity to stare %it down YOUR SOUL SHINES Last Line: Each day I walk along the edges %of the tall rocks YOUR SOUL SHINES |
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