Nikki Giovanni: Kidnap Poem

ever been kidnapped
by a poet
if i were a poet
i'd kidnap you
put you in my phrases and meter
you to jones beach
or maybe coney island
or maybe just to my house
lyric you in lilacs
dash you in the rain
blend into the beach
to complement my see
play the lyre for you
ode you with my love song
anything to win you
wrap you in the red Black green
show you off to mama
yeah if i were a poet i'd kid
nap you

Nikki Giovanni: The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.

His headstone said
FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST
but death is a slave's freedom

We seek the freedom of free men

And the construction of a world

Where Martin Luther King could have lived

and preached non-violence.

Nikki Giovanni: Housecleaning

i always liked housecleaning
even as a child
i dug straightening
the cabinets
putting newspaper on
the shelves
washing the refrigerator
inside out
and unfortunately this habit has
carried over and i find
i must remove you
from my life

Nikki Giovanni: I am Confused

I am confused
I am in a not so much fog
As gray cloud

I cannot read
The landmarks

Let alone
The Danger signs

I do not know

Where I am
Or how I got here

I am lost

I want to find myself

In your arms

Nikki Giovanni: Love Is

Some people forget that love is

tucking you in and kissing you
"Good night"
no matter how young or old you are

Some people don't remember that
love is
listening and laughing and asking
questions
no matter what your age


Few recognize that love is
commitment, responsibility
no fun at all
unless


Love is
You and me

Nikki Giovanni: If Only

if i had never been in your armsnever danced that dance
never inhaled your slightly sweaty odor

maybe i could sleep at night

if i had never held your hand
never been so close
to the most kissable lips in the universe
never wanted ever so much
to rest my tongue in your dimple

maybe i could sleep at night

if i wasn’t so curious
about whether or not you snore
and when you sleep do you cuddle your pillow
what you say when you wake up
and if i tickle you
will you heartedly laugh

if this enchantment
this bewilderment
this longing
could cease

if this question i ache to ask could be answered

if only i could stop dreaming of you

maybe i could sleep at night.

Nikki Giovannit: Communication

if music is the most universal language

just think of me as one whole note 

if science has the most perfect language 

picture me as MC squared 

since mathematics can speak to the infinite 

imagine me as 1 to the first power 

what i mean            one day 

i’m gonna grab your love 

and you’ll be 

satisfied

Nikki Giovanni: Being and Nothingness

i haven’t done anything
meaningful in so long
it’s almost meaningful
to do nothing

i suppose i could fall in love
or at least in line
since i’m so discontented
but that takes effort

and i don’t want to exert anything
neither my energy nor my emotions

i’ve always prided myself
on being a child of the sixties
and we are all finished
so that makes being
nothing

Nikki Giovanni: When I Die

when i die i hope no one who ever hurt me cries
and if they cry i hope their eyes fall out
and a million maggots that had made up their brains
crawl from the empty holes and devour the flesh
that covered the evil that passed itself off as a person
that i probably tried
to love

Nikki Giovanni: Nikki-Rosa

childhood remembrances are always a drag  
if you’re Black
you always remember things like living in Woodlawn  
with no inside toilet
and if you become famous or something
they never talk about how happy you were to have  
your mother
all to yourself and
how good the water felt when you got your bath  
from one of those
big tubs that folk in chicago barbecue in  
and somehow when you talk about home  
it never gets across how much you
understood their feelings
as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale
and even though you remember
your biographers never understand
your father’s pain as he sells his stock  
and another dream goes
And though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that
concerns you
and though they fought a lot
it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference  
but only that everybody is together and you
and your sister have happy birthdays and very good  
Christmases
and I really hope no white person ever has cause  
to write about me
because they never understand
Black love is Black wealth and they’ll
probably talk about my hard childhood
and never understand that
all the while I was quite happy

Nikki Giovanni: I Take Master Card (Charge Your Love To Me)

I've heard 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 thing 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: Seduction

One day
you gonna walk in this house
and i'm gonna have a long African
gown
you'll sit down and say "The Black..."
and i'm gonna take one arm out
then you-not noticing me at all- will say "What about
this brother..."
and i'm going to be slipping it over my head
and you'll rap on about "The revolution..."
while i rest your hand against my stomach
you'll go on-as you always do- saying
"I just can't dig..."
while i'm moving your hand up and down
and i'll be taking your dashiki off
then you'll say "What we really need..."
and taking your shorts off
the you'll notice
your state of undress
and knowing you you'll just say
"Nikki,
isn't this counterrevolutionary...?"

Nikki Giovanni: Poem for Flora

when she was little
and colored and ugly with short
straightened hair
and a very pretty smile
she went to Sunday school to hear
'bout nebuchadnezzar the king
of the jews

and she would listen

shadrach, meshach and abednego in the fire

and she would learn
how god was neither north
nor south east or west
with no color but all
she remembered was that
Sheba was Black and comely

and she would think

i want to be
like that.

Nikki Giovanni: The World is Not a Pleasant Place to Be

the world is not a pleasant place
to be without
someone to hold and be held by

a river would stop
its flow if only
a stream were there
to receive it

an ocean would never laugh
if clouds weren’t there
to kiss her tears

the world is not
a pleasant place to be without
someone

Nikki Giovanni: Friends and Lovers

Friends and Lovers
   are different
   things

Friends:
   go shoppping for shoes
      with you
   add extra garlic
      to that new tomato sauce recipe
   giggle over that silly ting
      that happened back in high shool

Lovers:
   cause your heart to stop
      beating
   put cotton and dumb things to say
      in your mouth
   take you to paradise
and back again
and again
and again

Nikki Giovanni: A drunken phone call

A drunken phone call
From a middle-aged woman
In the middle of the night
After SportsCenter
Reminds me
That life is short
And cold
And mean
And maybe I should
Have called you
Like I said
I would

Nikki Giovanni: My new car

I drive
like I have a new car
I don't want anyone
to bump it
or scratch it
or actually get too close
to it
Stay in your own lane
I want to shout
But I stay satisfyingly cool
I fit in
I relax
I don't want you to think I think
I have any reason
To be jealous

Nikki Giovanni: A fish out of water

I know how
The mermaid
Feels

You give up
Your gills
So you can't
Go back
To the water

Yet there is
No way
You can live
On land

There are cats
And dogs
And even robins
Who might take
Pleasure
In capturing
Something strange

There are school
Children
Who will
Throw rocks

And laughter
At the little
Fish who
Floundered

There is of course
The memory
Of the love
That propelled
This jet

And now I sit
On the beach
Listening to the waves
Crash over the rocks

And wish
I had seen
The end of this story
At the beginning
Instead of
At the end

Nikki Giovanni: Tourism

I am always a tourist

No matter where
I am

At home
Or abroad

An American
   in Aruba
A Black
   in Oxford
A woman
   in Baghdad
Alone
   cruising
The Panama Canal

Cold in Alaska
Comfortable only
   when the plane
Lands

Never sorry
Yet never safe

In your arms
or out

Nikki Giovanni: Friends in love

Times change
Jobs change
Friends remain
Forever

We age
We sage
Friends laugh
Together

We sigh
We cry
Friends in love
Completely

Hands and hearts
Tied up as one
In this package
Neatly