This poem is a lark and doesn't end ANYWHERE you think it's going ... it ends with sucking in your cheeks and reaching for your pearls a bit. Oh, how I've loved our Nikki Giovanni long time. "The Laws of Motion (for Harlem Magic)":
--> The laws of science teach us a pound of gold weighs as
much as a pound of flour
though if dropped from any undetermined height in their natural state one would reach bottom and one would fly away
much as a pound of flour
though if dropped from any undetermined height in their natural state one would reach bottom and one would fly away
Laws of motion tell us
an inert object
is more difficult to propel than
an object heading in the wrong direction is to
turn around.
Motion being energy — inertia — apathy.
an inert object
is more difficult to propel than
an object heading in the wrong direction is to
turn around.
Motion being energy — inertia — apathy.
Apathy equals hostility.
Hostility—violence.
Violence, being energy, is its own virtue.
Laws of motion teach us
Hostility—violence.
Violence, being energy, is its own virtue.
Laws of motion teach us
Black people are no less confused because of our
Blackness than we are diffused because of our
powerlessness.
Man, we are told,
is the only animal who smiles with his lips.
The eyes, however, are the mirror of the soul
Blackness than we are diffused because of our
powerlessness.
Man, we are told,
is the only animal who smiles with his lips.
The eyes, however, are the mirror of the soul
The problem with love is not what we feel
but what we wish we felt
when we began to feel we should feel something.
Just as publicity is not production:
seduction is not seductive
but what we wish we felt
when we began to feel we should feel something.
Just as publicity is not production:
seduction is not seductive
If I could make a wish
I’d wish for all the knowledge
of all the world.
Black may be beautiful, Professor Micheau, says
but knowledge is power.
Any desirable object is bought and sold —
any neglected object declines in value.
It is against man’s nature to be in either category.
I’d wish for all the knowledge
of all the world.
Black may be beautiful, Professor Micheau, says
but knowledge is power.
Any desirable object is bought and sold —
any neglected object declines in value.
It is against man’s nature to be in either category.
If white defines Black
and good defines evil
then men define women
or women
scientifically speaking
describe men.
If sweet is the opposite of sour
and heat the absence of cold
then love is the contradiction of pain
and beauty is in the eye of the beheld
and good defines evil
then men define women
or women
scientifically speaking
describe men.
If sweet is the opposite of sour
and heat the absence of cold
then love is the contradiction of pain
and beauty is in the eye of the beheld
Sometimes I want to touch you and be touched in
return.
But you think I’m grabbing and I think you’re shirking
and Mama always said to look out for men like you
return.
But you think I’m grabbing and I think you’re shirking
and Mama always said to look out for men like you
So I go to the streets with my lips painted red
and my eyes carefully shielded
to seduce the world
my reluctant lover
and my eyes carefully shielded
to seduce the world
my reluctant lover
And you go to your men
slapping fives feeling good
posing as a man
because you know as long as you sit
very very still
the laws of motion will be in effect. >>
slapping fives feeling good
posing as a man
because you know as long as you sit
very very still
the laws of motion will be in effect. >>
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