Sunday, February 18, 2018

"cutting greens" by Lucille Clifton

One of the most respected poets of our time, Lucille Clifton has earned an impressive collection of accolades. In 2007 she was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, she's been a finalist for Pulitzer Prizes, and she was the poet laureate for Maryland from 1974 to 1985.  

cutting greens 
by Lucille Clifton

curling them around
i hold their bodies in obscene embrace
thinking of everything but kinship.
collards and kale
strain against each strange other
away from my kissmaking hand and
the iron bedpot.
the pot is black,
the cutting board is black,
my hand,
and just for a minute
the greens roll black under the knife,
and the kitchen twists dark on its spine
and I taste in my natural appetite
the bond of live things everywhere.




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