Let not sceptred tyrants see

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Hi yall! I haven't done since April according to my last post. I haven't been reading as much poetry and most of you know this year has been hectic for me, but I would like to pick this back up. I was just flipping through the collected poems by Audre Lorde and I came across the poem But What Can You Teach My Daughter. I had originally been seeking Hanging Fire, but it didn't really have that umph. When I really like a poem I have a visceral reaction to it. I looked on the next page and started to read this one and I had that: OHHH. I make that sound whenever I read a poem that really has that umph at least for me haha. So here it is.

http://jelyon.com/national-african-american-history-month-day-21-but-what-can-you-teach-my-daughter-by-audre-lorde/

The poem I want to share today is beautiful by Michelle Tea. I first became aware of Michelle Tea by trolling the wiki. I think I was looking at the queercore article and it led to her page. After this, I bought one of her books. It was an experience. It was slightly different but nice. I really like her writing. This poem was the second of her poems in the spoken word anthology. It's about America. I think it speaks to the experience many have us have of not being accepted because of things we can't control and the way our country views us. So without further ado.

http://fypoetry.tumblr.com/post/57349919343/michelle-tea-the-beautiful

Today's second poem is from Maya Angelou. This one is Woman Work. I initially clicked on it because of the title. It reminds me of the song This Woman's Work by Kate Bush. But what made me post it here is the end. Woman's work seems to be thankless. People take it for a given even me. I think it deserves more appreciation because if no one did it then we'd all be fucked.

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So I've been looking at erotica these past few days. One of the names that keeps coming up is Anais Nin. I had heard of before but for her diaries. I've only found this poem by her but I feel like it speaks to me and my sexuality.

Risk

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Last night I started to think about Audre Lorde's poems. A line had stuck with me. "I am woman and not white." So I looked up her stuff because it was late and I did not want to go retrieve the collected poems. Here is A Woman Speaks.

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I just got Aunt Lute's anthology of women writers in the US. This book focuses on the 17th-19th century. I looked through the table of contents and I saw Coquette et Froide. Need I say the title made me flip the page?

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I Am by John Clare. This poem reminds me a bit of my nostalgia about previous days. For a time when things weren't complicated.

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Today's poem is You by Angelina Weld Grimake. I really love this poem. There are two other poems on that page and I like those you but You is my favorite.

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The first poem of today is by Gwendolyn Brooks. I just cracked open her Selected Poems. I really them.

Sadie and Maud seems to me to be a warning. I think it's saying not to judge people because you never know how life is going to turn out. Like don't turn your nose up at other people because they didn't meet your expectations.

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I've been reading Alice Walker's In Search of Mothers Garden and it's gotten me more interested in her work. I had previously watched a bit of a documentary on her and it's the strangest thing but I feel like I can hear her talking directly to me as I read and it's a very comforting experience. I'm taking my time reading the book. I'm savoring it.

Anyway I just went looking for some of her poems. I love We Alone. I feel like it says a lot about interest and what not.