Oh Nikki, You're So Fine

Perhaps one of the good things that will come of this shitty mess in Virginia is a wider appreciation for poet Nikki Giovanni. I instantly recognized her name when they announced the lineup of speakers at the convocation held yesterday.

I took a lot of Feminist Studies courses at BU - interesting fodder for my future bisexual experiences and overall hyper-sexed personality. It’s always funny to me when people (especially men) talk about how such classes are for “dykes.” While there definitely were quite a few butchy chicks not of heterosexual persuasion in all of these classes, there were also a ton of us straight closeted freaks who were enrolled almost solely to hear voices from sexually liberated women. Their writings were/are empowering and inspiring and very rarely (if ever) mean-spirited towards men.

Nikki Giovanni is definitely one of the coolest of these ladies. She’s a lung cancer survivor (in fact, she only has one lung now). She has a tattoo on her arm that says “THUG LIFE” in honor of Tupac. She’s also a Gemini, as is Ella. And I remember adoring her poetry in college.

So I took out a few old books of mine and found this one, which, even if you aren’t a fan of poetry (or, perhaps more importantly, aren’t a woman), you should read. Back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, I promise.

Life Cycles

she realized
she wasn't one
of life's winners
when she wasn't sure
life to her was some dark
dirty secret that
like some unwanted child
too late for an abortion
was to be borne
alone

she had so many private habits
she would masturbate sometimes
she always picked her nose when upset
she liked to sit with silence
in the dark
sadness is not an unusual state
for the black woman
or writers

she took to sneaking drinks
a habit which displeased her
both for its effects
and taste
yet eventually sleep
would wrestle her in triumph
onto the bed