lucille clifton poems I

-

 [solomon]


i bless the black

skin of the woman 

and the black

night turning around her

like a star's bed

and the black

sound of delilah

across his prayers

for they have made me 

wise

-


[job]


job easy

is the pride

of God


job hard

the pride

of job


i come to rags

like a good baby

to breakfast

-


[adam and eve]


the names

of the things

bloom in my mouth


my body opens

into brothers

-


[cain]


the land of nod

is a desert

on my head

plant tears

every morning

my brother 

don't rise up 

-


[moses]


i walk on bones

snakes twisting

in my hand

locusts breaking my mouth

an old man

leaving slavery

home is burning in me

like a bush

God got his eye on


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