Thank you for sharing this. I did not know about Nikki Giovanni before seeing this post on my feed. What a moving poem. I look forward to reading more of her work.
This is the kind of poem that's going to lurk at the back of my brain and press itself up against my leg like an affectionate cat when I think I've forgotten it
I really love how the same woman who says “fuck it take my soul and give me the world” understands it’s wrong to destroy any living being. She just went sofaking hard. Rest in Power ✊🏿
This poem shaped my ethics - I should send a copy to my kid because he was raised with "we don't kill things just because we're scared" applied from spiders all the way up to the demos after Philando Castile was murdered but I don't think I ever had him read the actual poem.
This poem has stuck with me my whole adult life. Such a simple idea, and one I think I’m still trying to live up to. Such a gifted poet, and such a gift to us all.
I love this. I've felt this impulse (to kill the spider simply out of fear) and increasingly stopped myself doing this because I've concluded that my fear doesn't give me the right to kill the spider. This idea is beautifully presented here.
Comments
> so she replied: show me someone not full of herself
> and i’ll show you a hungry person
This is my jam! Thanks for posting that poem of hers, made my ears perk right up.
Thanks for posting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4OPYp4s0tc
https://artistic.umn.edu/allowables-poem-nikki-giovanni