April Is National Poetry Month!

April Is National Poetry Month!

Today I shine the spotlight on a fearless sister. A Warrior Poet, Essayist, Novelist, a Liberian, an Educator, and a Feminist. The founder member of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press and Sister in Support of Sisters in South Africa. A recipient of the National Book Award and a New York Poet Laureate. Without further ado, I present Audre Lorde.

FOR EACH OF YOU

AUDRE LORDE

Be who you are and will be

learn to cherish

that boisterous Black Angel that drive you

up one day and down another

protecting the place where the power rises

running like hot blood

from the same source

as your pain.

When you are hungry

learn to eat

whatever sustains you

until morning

but do not be misled by details

simply because you live them.

Do not let your head deny

your hands

any memory of what passes through them

nor your eyes

nor your heart

everything can be used

except what is wasteful

(you will need to remember this when you are accused of destruction)

even when they are dangerous

examine the heart of those machines you hate

before you discard them

and never mourn the lack of their power

lest you be condemned

to relive them.

If you do not learn to hate

you will never be lonely

enough

to love easily

nor will you always be brave

although it does not grow any easier.

Do not pretend to convenient beliefs

even when they are righteous

you will never be able to defend your city

while shouting.

Remember our sun

is not the most noteworthy star

only the nearest.

Respect whatever pain you bring back

from your dreaming

but do not look for new gods

in the sea

nor in any part of the rainbow.

Each time you love

love as deeply

as if it were

forever

only nothing is

eternal.

Speak proudly to your children

where ever you may find them

tell them

you are the offspring of slaves

and your mother was

a princess in

darkness.