You are there nikki giovanni

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 so 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.

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 love you because the Earth turns round the sun because the North wind blows north sometimes because the Pope is Catholic and most Rabbis Jewish because the winters flow into springs and the air clears after a storm because only my love for you despite the charms of gravity keeps me from falling off this Earth into another dimension I love you because it is the natural order of things.

National Poetry Month. Materials for Teachers Teach This Poem. Poems for Kids. Poetry for Teens. Lesson Plans. How the soldiers, bussed in from Fort Dix, would stand outside all the way down Warren Street, waiting for this new taste treat, young guys in uniform, lined up and laughing, learning Italian, before being shipped out to fight the last great war. National Poetry Month. Materials for Teachers Teach This Poem.

Poems for Kids. Poetry for Teens. Lesson Plans. Resources for Teachers. Academy of American Poets. American Poets Magazine. Poems Find and share the perfect poems. Knoxville, Tennessee. Possum Crossing Backing out the driveway the car lights cast an eerie glow in the morning fog centering on movement in the rain slick street Hitting brakes I anticipate a squirrel or a cat or sometimes a little raccoon I once braked for a blind little mole who try though he did could not escape the cat toying with his life Mother-to-be possum occasionally lopes home.

Nikki Giovanni In Praise of Okra No one believes in you like I do. January Gill O'Neil Family Reunion Thirty seconds into the barbecue, my Cleveland cousins have everyone speaking Southern—broadened vowels and dropped consonants, whoops and caws.

Rita Dove Grace Cavalieri Academy of American Poets Educator Newsletter. Read on for 10 of the best and most famous poems by Nikki Giovanni. The poems below are published with permission from HarperCollins , Nikki Giovanni's publisher. We are not lovers because of the love we make but the love we have We are not friends because of the laughs we spend but the tears we save I don't want to be near you for the thoughts we share but the words we never have to speak I will never miss you because of what we do but what we are together.

I hang on the edge of this universe singing off-key talking too loud embracing myself to cushion the fall I shall tumble into deep space never in this form or with this feeling to return to earth It is not tragic I will spiral through that Black hole losing skin limbs internal organs searing my naked soul Landing in the next galaxy with only my essence embracing myself as I dream of you. 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.

If i can't do what i want to do then my job is to not do what i don't want to do It's not the same thing but it's the best i can do If i can't have what i want I came to the crowd seeking friends I came to the crowd seeking love I came to the crowd for understanding I found you I came to the crowd to weep I came to the crowd to laugh You dried my tears You shared my happiness I went from the crowd seeking you I went from the crowd seeking me I went from the crowd forever You came, too.

No longer do I cover tables filled with food and laughter My seams are frayed my hems falling my strength no longer able To hold the hot and cold. I wish for those first days When just woven I could keep water From seeping through Repelled stains with the tightness of my weave Dazzled the sunlight with my Reflection.

I grow old though pleased with my memories The tasks I can no longer complete Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past. When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end Please someone cut a square and put me in a quilt That I might keep some child warm. And then there's me And there is you I do sometimes wonder What will we do.