I Wrote a Good Omelet
I wrote a good omelet .�
.� . and ate a hot poem . . .
after loving you
Buttoned my car . . .�
and drove my coat home . . . in the
rain . . .
after loving you
I goed on red . . . and
stopped on green . . . floating
somewhere in between . .
.
being here and being there
. . .
after loving you
I rolled my bed .�
. . turned down my hair . . . slightly
confused but . . . I don't
care . . .
Laid out my teeth . . .
and gargled my gown . . . then I stood
. . . and laid me down .
. .
to sleep . . .
after loving you
�
Nikki Giovanni
�
��������
A Happy Reason
�
a good book (not necessarily a mystery) . . .some popcorn with real
butter . . . a fire in the wood stove . . . quilts on the couch . . .
thermal blankets on
the bed . . . a feather�duster waiting to be used . . .
� coffee pot
with a timer . . .� the 49ers winning if we get lucky . . .
�����
comic pages in color . . . intelligent editorials . . . snow or rain
or any�inclement weather . . . or heavy doses of sun . . .
���
a reason to move or
not move . . .
a reason
to go����� or not go������
no reason to be
anything . . .
except� happy . . .
with . . .
you��������
�
Nikki Giovanni
Ego Tripping
(there may be a reason
why)
I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad
I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
the tears from my birth pains
created the nile
I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on the forest and burned
out the sahara desert
with a packet of goat's meat
and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle swift
so swift you can't catch me
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
He gave me rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on
My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
my nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean...I...can fly
like a bird in the sky...
Nikki Giovanni
�
I Do Have My Likes and Dislikes
�
I like cashmere scarves
and cashmere sweaters and cotton blouses
with button down collars
I like mink muffs when my
hands are cold and leather gloves up to
my elbow
I like manicures but I don't
like nail polish
I like facials but not to
squeeze the black heads out
I like caviar and pecan
fried chicken and double decker sandwiches
white bread extra mayo
I really like anchovies
on my pizza and quilts on my bed and
eucalyptus soap when I take
a long bath
I prefer vacations in St.Vincent
or Barbados or Jamaica but I'll take
any good beach I can find
I like ESPN Sports Roundup
and homemade vanilla ice cream in a
big mug with chocolate chip
cookies
I like bird houses and bird
feeders and my coffee in the morning on
the deck where I hear birds
singing
And mostly I like the peace
of the breezes singing through the trees and
. . .oh by the way . . .
I� really like you
Nikki Giovanni
�
August
�
Apples fall� peaches
harvested
One kind of pear is prickled
Blackberries turn your finger
blue
Some cucumbers get pickled
Biscuits bake or they are
fried
Grits are cooked real slow
Green tomatoes in bacon
fat
then it's� time to
go
From Grandmothers country
home
Back up to the city
I'd rather stay in the barefoot
South
where everything is pretty
Nikki Giovanni
�
�
How Do You Write a Poem?
�
how do you write a poem
about someone so close
to you that when you say
ahhhh
they say chuuu
what can they ask you to
put
on paper that isn't already
written
on your face
and does the paper make
it
any more real
that without them
life would be not
impossible but certainly
more difficult
and why should someone need
a poem to say when i come
home if you're not there
i search the air
for your scent
would i search any less
if i told the world
i don't care at all
and love is so complete
that touch or not we blend
to each other the things
that matter aren't all about
baaaanging (i can be baaaanged
all
day long) but finding a
spot
where i can be free
of all the physical
and emotional bullshit
and simply sit with a cup
of coffee and say to you
"i'm tired" don't you know
those are my love words
and say to you "how was
your
day" doesn't that show
i care or say to you "we
lost
a friend" and not want to
share
that loss with strangers
don't you already know
what i feel and if
you don't maybe
i should check my feelings
Nikki Giovanni
I Take Master Card
�
(Charge Your Love to
Me)
I've heard all the stories
'bout how you don't deserve
me
'cause I'm so strong and
beautiful and wonderful and you could
never
live up to what you know I should have but
I just want to let you know:
I take Master Card
You can love me as much
as your heart can stand
then put the rest on
account and pay the interest
each month until we get
this settled
You see we modern women
do comprehend
that we deserve a whole
lot more
than what is normally being
offered but we are trying
to get aligned with the
modern world
So baby,� you can love
me all
you like� 'cause you're
pre-approved
and you don't have to sign
on
the bottom line
Charge it up
'til we just can't take
no more
it's the modern way
I take Master Card
to see your Visa
and I deal with a Discovery
but I don't want any American
Express 'cause like the
Pointer Sisters say:��� I need a slow hand
Nikki Giovanni
Luxury
�
i suppose living
in a materialistic society
luxury
to some would be having
more than what you need
living in an electronic
age seeing
the whole world by pushing
a button
the nth
degree might perhaps be
adequately represented by
having
somone there to push
the buttons for you
i have thought if only
i could become rich and
famous i would
live luxuriously in new
york knowing
famous� people eating
in expensive restaurants
calling
long distance anytime i
want
but you held me
one evening and now i know
the ultimate luxury
of your love
Nikki Giovanni
A Greater Love of God and
Country
Concerning the Burning
of Old and Alone Though Not Lonely
Black Churches
There is no reason to ask
"WHY" since to ask "WHY"
is to enter some dark and crazy spot
where one presumes there
is REASON and A REASON that will
make sense which is not
to say there is a craziness:� I don't belive
this is crazy but rather
mean . . . hateful . . . ugly -- though not
ignorant because there is
knowledge here and there is a purpose here
but there is NO
REASON
People who will burn a cross
will burn a church
The buildings may be rebuilt�
but the� creak
of a stair . . . the smell
of polish in the pews
the old kitchen where Sunday
dinners were reheated
the icebox where the iced
tea was kept . . . the too narrow
steps leading to the damp
and dusky basement . . . the leaky
��� window
that could not always keep the cold at bay . . . the knowing
that this building was built
by these hands to worship this God who
has Deliverd us . . . .
. . . . .� No. . . that cannot be rebuilt
The people who have burned
crosses will burn a church
Something will be lost
and the world just a bit sadder
for the loss ot the building
. . . . But the people who sift through
ashes know that fire is
a friend and that fire can be a foe
But the people who use fire
are lowdown . . .
And the people who know
that some people are lowdown will watch
the fires . . . will forgive
the trespasses. . .and will go right on
thanking their God for His
powerful . . . magnificent
Deliverance
�
�Nikki Giovanni
You Were Gone
You were gone
like a fly lighting
on that wall
with a spider in the corner
You were gone
like last� week's paycheck
for this week's bills
You were gone
like the years between
twenty-five and thirty
as if somehow
You never existed
and if it wouldn't be
for the gray hairs
I'd never know that
You had come.
Nikki Giovanni
PREVIOUS POET������
INDEX OF POETS ���������
NEXT POET
HOME: Nets to Catch the Wind��� ��
���
POETRY of Nature & Gardening��� ���
Background Set Courtesy of:
�
This site is hosted by GeoCities.
Get your Free Home Page now.