The collected poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998

Poem for Stacia -- The world is not a pleasant place to be -- The only song I'm singing -- The butterfly -- I remember -- A certain peace -- When I nap -- Mixed media -- Just a New York poem -- [Untitled] -- The wonder woman (a new dream - for Stevie Wonder) -- Categories -- Straight talk -- Scrapbooks -- When I die -- [Untitled] (for Margaret Danner) -- My tower (for Barb and Anthony) -- Poem (for Nina) -- Africa I -- Africa II -- They clapped -- Poem (for Anna Hedgeman and Alfreda Duster) -- Atrocities -- Nothing makes sense -- I laughed when I wrote it (don't you think it's funny?) -- On seeing black journal and watching nine negro leaders "give aid and comfort to the enemy" to quote Richard Nixon -- And another thing -- We -- My house --

Women and the men --

The women gather (for Joe Strickland) -- Once a lady told me -- Each Sunday -- The December of my springs -- The life I led -- Mother's habits -- The way I feel -- Communication -- Luxury -- Poem -- Hampton, Virginia -- Poetry is a trestle -- The laws of motion (for Harlem magic) -- Something to be said for silence -- Africa -- Swaziland -- A very simple wish -- Night -- Poetry -- Always there are the children --

Cotton candy on a rainy day --

Cotton candy on a rainy day -- Introspection -- Forced retirement -- The New Yorkers -- Crutches -- Boxes -- Poem --

A poem off center -- The winter snow -- Age -- Because -- Their fathers -- Life cycles -- Adulthood II -- Habits -- Fascinations -- Gus (for my father) -- Choices -- Photography --The beep beep poem -- A poem for Ed and Archie -- Women -- Space -- Poem (for EMA) -- The rose bush (for Gordon) -- Patience -- Make up -- Winter -- You are there -- A statement on conservation -- Turning (I need a better title) -- A response (to the rock group Foreigner) -- A poem of friendship -- Being and nothingness (to quote a philosopher) -- The moon shines down -- That day --

Those who ride the night winds --

Charting the night winds -- Lorraine Hansberry: an emotional view -- Hands: for Mother's Day -- This is not for John Lennon (and this is not a poem) -- Mirrors (for Billie Jean King) -- Linkage (for Phillis Wheatley) -- Charles White -- The drum (for Martin Luther King, Jr.) -- A poem on the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy -- Eagles (a poem for Lisa) -- Flying underground (for the children of Atlanta) -- Her cruising car : a portrait of two small town girls -- The cyclops in the ocean -- Harvest (for Rosa Parks) -- Reflections/on a golden anniversary -- Love: is a human condition -- Sky diving -- A journey -- Resignation -- I wrote a good omelet -- Three/quarters time -- Cancers (not necessarily a love poem) -- A word for me...also -- I am she (for Nancy) -- The room with the tapestry rug -- Wild flowers -- Love thoughts -- You were gone -- A song for New-Ark --

Occasional poems --

Poem of Angela Yvonne Davis (October 16, 1970)

A poem for langston hughes

But since you finally asked (a poem commemorating the 10th anniversary of the slave memorial at Mount Vernon)

Stardate number 18628.190

Brother brother brother (the Isley brothers of Lincoln Heights)

Afterword: Some poems are more useful than others.

Black feeling Black talk --

Detroit conference of unity and art (for HRB) -- On hearing "the girl with the flaxen hair" -- You came, too -- Poem (for TW) -- Poem (for BMC no. 1) -- Our Detroit conference (for Don L. Lee) -- Poem (for Dudley Randall) -- Poem (for BMC no. 2) -- Personae poem (for Sylvia Henderson) -- Poem (for PCH) -- Poem (No name no. 1) -- Poem (for BMC no. 3) -- Black separatism -- A historical footnote to consider only when all else fails (for Barbara Cosby) -- Poem (no name no. 2) -- The true import of present dialogue, black vs. negro (for Peppe, who will ultimately judge our efforts) -- A short essay of affirmation explaining why (with apologies to the Federal Bureau of Investigation) -- Poem (no name no. 3) -- Wilmington Delaware -- Letter to a Bourgeois friend whom once I loved (and mabe still do if love is valid) -- I'm not lonely -- Love poem (for real) -- For an intellectual audience -- Black power (for all the beautiful black panthers east) -- Seduction -- Word poem (perhaps worth considering) --

Black judgement --

The dance committee (concerning Jean-Léon Destiné) -- Of liberation -- Poem for black boys (with special love to James) -- Concerning one responsible negro with too much power -- Reflections on April 4, 1968 -- The funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- A litany for Peppe --Nikki-Rosa -- The great Pax Whitie -- Intellectualism -- Universality -- Knoxville, Tennessee -- Records -- Adulthood (for Claudia) -- From a logical point of view -- Dreams -- Revolutionary music -- Beautiful black men (with compliments and apologies to all not mentioned by name) -- Woman poem --

Ugly honkies, or the election game and how to win it -- Cultural awareness -- For Saundra -- Balances -- For a poet I know -- For Teresa -- My poem -- Black judgements (of bullshit niggerish ways) --

Re: Creation --

For Tommy -- Two poems: from Barbados -- For Harold Logan (murdered by "persons unknown" cause he wanted to own a Black club on Broadway) -- No reservations (for Art Jones) -- Alone -- For two Jameses (Ballantine and Snow) in iron cells -- For Gwendolyn Brooks -- Autumn poems -- Rain -- Poem for Lloyd -- Housecleaning -- Poem for Aretha -- Revolutionary dreams -- Walking down park -- Kidnap poem -- The genie in the jar (for Nina Simone) -- All I gotta do -- The game of game -- Master charge: blues -- The lion in Daniel's den (for Paul Robeson, Sr.) -- For a lady of pleasure now retired -- 2nd rapp -- A robin's poem -- Alabama Poem -- Poem for unwed mothers (to be sung to "The old F.U. Spirit") -- 12 gates: to the city -- Ego tripping (there may be a reason why) -- A poem/because it came as a surprise to me -- Oppression -- Toy poem -- Some uses for them not stated -- Poem for Flora -- Sometimes -- Poem for my nephew (brother C.B. Soul) -- Yeah...but... -- Poem for a lady whose voice I like -- How do you write a poem? -- And sometimes I sit -- I want to sing -- Ever want to crawl --

My house --

Legacies -- Mothers -- A poem for Carol (may she always wear red ribbons) -- A fishy poem -- Winter poem -- Conservation -- Rituals --