Nikki Giovanni

"how do you write a poem about someone so close ...dont you already know what i feel and if you dont maybe i should check my feelings"

"...how else to spend a rainy day other than with you seeking sun and stars and heavenly bodies"

"if it does not sing discard the ear for poetry is song if it does not delight discard the heart for poetry is joy if it does not inform then close off the brain for it is dead if it cannot heed the insistent message that life is preciouswhich is all we poets wrapped in our loneliness are trying to say"

"You have to read the poem and say, “My god, that’s a good poem,” and kind of smile at yourself. If you’re not willing to do that, then you’re wasting your time, and you’re hurting yourself in another way because you’re trying to please somebody who doesn’t like you. You don’t want to get in that position."

"i hope my shoulder finds a head that needs nestling ...i hope i die warmed by the life that i tried to live"

"may i spin a poem around you come lets step into my web and dream of freedom together"

"...i believe the most beautiful poem ...is your heart racing"

"if trees could talk wonder what theyd say met an old man ...told me "girl! my hands seen more than all them books... at tuskeegee" ...met an old woman ..."sista" she called to me "...my feet seen more than yo eyes ever gonna read" ...if trees would talk wonder what theyd tell me"

"they say you should fight the cold with the cold but since i never do anything right i called you"

"if nature is true we shall all lose our eyes since we cannot even now distinguish the good from the evil ...ive a mind to build a new world want to play"

"lets build what we become when we dream"

"...i sit waiting for a fresh thought to stir the atmosphere"