About This Title
Clifton's poems about birth and death, sexuality and spirituality, and the quality of the non-white experience in America and elsewhere give voice to the universal human heart. Poignant or humorous, harsh or loving, these new poems also reflect Clifton's continuing belief in the language of poetry as a bridge of human reconciliation, a belief in the power of song, a belief in tongues.
leukemia as a dream/ritual
it is night in my room.
the woman beside me is dying.
a small girl stands
at the foot of the bed.
she is crying and carrying wine
and a wafer.
her name is the name i would have given
the daughter i would have liked to have had.
she grieves for herself and
not for the woman.
she mourns the future and
not the past.
she offers me her small communion.
i roll the wafer and wine on my tongue.
i accept my body. i accept my blood.
eat she whispers. drink and eat.
© BOA Editions, Ltd 1987
Available editions:
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Paperback ISBN: 0-918526-61-2
Price: $12.50
Publishing Date: January 1987
