In honor of Poetry Month, I am seeking out nature inspired or eco-inspired poems by African American writers. One of my favorites, Nikki Giovanni - poet, professor, gardener, woman - has several nature oriented poems in her book, Quilting the Black Eye Pea:Poems and Not Quite Poems. Some of the poems you will appreciate - A Robin's Nest in Snow, Cal Johnson Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, Swinging on a Rainbow and The Meadow Throws a Birthday Party and Possum Crossing. This is a good book to read on a lazy weekend day, with a big hot bowl of black eye peas topped of with some crumbled cornbread and chased with some sweet tea! For those of you with children in your lives, a must read is Ego Tripping: And Other Poems for Young People. My son used to love this book as a little guy. Ms. Giovanni's poetry is real, funky, thought provoking and warm. I just discovered that she was a passionate gardener, which explains the tone of many of her poems and essays.
Enjoy!
1 comment:
How awesome is this! She really takes you away in her poetry.
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