by Nikki Giovanni

I wrote a good omelet…and ate a hot poem…

after loving you

Buttoned my car…and drove my coat home..in the

rain…

after loving you

I goed on red…and stopped on green…floating

somewhere in between…

being here and being there…

after loving you

I rolled my bed…turned down my hair…slightly

confused but…I don’t care…

Laid out my teeth…and gargled my gown…then I stood

…and laid me down…

to sleep…

after loving you

by Nikki Giovanni

all i gotta do

is sit and wait

sit and wait

and it’s gonna find

me

all i gotta do

is sit and wait

if i can learn

how

what i need to do

is sit and wait

cause i’m woman

sit and wait

what i gotta do

is sit and wait

cause i’m a woman

it’ll find me

you get yours

and i’ll get mine

if i learn

to sit and wait

you got yours

i want mine

and i’m gonna get it

cause i gotta get it

cause i need to get it

if i learn how

thought about calling

for it on the phone

asked for a delivery

but they didn’t have it

thought about going

to the store to get it

walked to the corner

but they didn’t have it

called your name

in my sleep

sitting and waiting

thought you would awake me

called your name

lying in my bed

but you didn’t have it

offered to go get it

but you didn’t have it

so i’m sitting

all i know

is sitting and waiting

waiting and sitting

cause i’m a woman

all i know

is sitting and waiting

cause i gotta wait

wait for it to find

me

From her book, Bicycles

I am the stretch

The scratch

The way your shoulders

Shrug off sleep

I am the first note

Of the song you sing

The first beat

Of the rhythm you tap

The only high note

You reach

I am the ink

On the newspaper

The grounds

That make your coffee

The bread

That you will toast

I am your shoelaces

For your run

The towel for your sweat

The seat you recline against

As you catch your breath

I am the salt in your stew

The butter in which you scramble your eggs

The apples that flavor your yogurt

I am the wish

On the flame of your candles

When they sing

“Happy Birthday”

Blow me, baby

I am yours

Everything you need

I provide

Now tell me

Why

You’re not happy

From her book, The Women and The Men (1975)

i used to dream militant

dreams of taking

over america to show

these white folks how it should be

done

i used to dream radical dreams

of blowing everyone away with my perceptive powers

of correct analysis

i even used to think i’d be the one

to stop the riot and negotiate the peace

then i awoke and dug

that if i dreamed natural

dreams of being a natural

woman doing what a woman

does when she’s natural

i would have a revolution

From her book, The Women and The Men (1975)

i suppose living

in a materialistic society

luxury

to some would be having

more than what you need

living in an electronic age seeing

the whole world by pushing a button

the nth degree might perhaps be

adequately represented by having

someone there to push

the buttons for you

i have thought if only

i could become rich and famous i would

live luxuriously in new york knowing

famous people eating

in expensive restaurants calling

long distance anytime i want

but you held me

one evening and now i know

the ultimate luxury

of your love

ever been kidnapped

by a poet

if i were a poet

i’d kidnap you

put you in my phrases and meter

you to jones beach

or maybe coney island

or maybe just to my house

lyric you in lilacs

dash you in the rain

blend into the beach

to complement my see

play the lyre for you

ode you with my love song

anything to win you

wrap you in the red Black green

show you off to mama

yeah if i were a poet i’d kid

nap you

Nikki Giovanni.

I adore this picture of her.