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