How to Carry Water Selected Poems of Lucille Clifton How to Carry Water Selected Poems of Lucille Clifton Edited by Aracelis Girmay american poets continuum series, no. 180 BOA Editions, Ltd. ■ Rochester, NY ■ 2020 Copyright © 2020 by The Estate of Lucille T. Clifton. Foreword copyright © 2020 by Aracelis Girmay. All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First Edition 20 21 22 23 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For information about permission to reuse any material from this book, please contact The Permissions Company at www.permissionscompany.com or e-mail [email protected]. Publications by BOA Editions, Ltd.—a not-for-profit corporation under section 501 (c) (3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code—are made possible with funds from a variety of sources, including public funds from the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and the County of Monroe, NY. Private funding sources include the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation; the Mary S. Mulligan Charitable Trust; the Rochester Area Community Foundation; the Ames-Amzalak Memorial Trust in memory of Henry Ames, Semon Amzalak, and Dan Amzalak; the LGBT Fund of Greater Rochester; and contributions from many individuals nationwide. See Colophon on for special individual acknowledgments. Cover Design: Sandy Knight Interior Design and Composition: Richard Foerster BOA Logo: Mirko BOA Editions books are available electronically through BookShare, an online distributor offering Large-Print, Braille, Multimedia Audio Book, and Dyslexic formats, as well as through e-readers that feature text to speech capabilities. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Clifton, Lucille, 1936-2010, author. | Girmay, Aracelis, editor. Title: How to carry water : selected poems of Lucille Clifton / edited by Aracelis Girmay. Description: First edition. | Rochester, NY : BOA Editions, Ltd., 2020. | Series: American poets continuum series ; no. 180 | Includes index. | Summary: “A series of poems drawn from various collections published throughout the 40-year career of American poet Lucille Clifton”— Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2020019710 (print) | LCCN 2020019711 (ebook) | ISBN 9781950774142 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781950774159 (paperback) | ISBN 9781950774166 (ebook) Subjects: LCGFT: Poetry. Classification: LCC PS3553.L45 H69 2020 (print) | LCC PS3553.L45 (ebook) | DDC 811/.54—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019710 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019711 BOA Editions, Ltd. 250 North Goodman Street, Suite 306 Rochester, NY 14607 www.boaeditions.org A. Poulin, Jr., Founder (1938–1996) Contents foreword ■ from Early Uncollected Poems (1965–1969) 5/23/67 R.I.P. SPRING THOUGHT FOR THELMA Everytime i talk about a poem written for many moynihans the poet is thirty two take somebody like me ■ from good times (1969) my mama moved among the days miss rosie the 1st running across to the lot if i stand in my window for deLawd ca’line’s prayer generations flowers ■ from good news about the earth (1972) after kent state being property once myself the lost baby poem apology lately listen children the news the bodies broken on song africa earth God send easter so close poem for my sisters ■ from Uncollected Poems (1973–1974) Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival ■ from an ordinary woman (1974) in salem salt new bones harriet roots to ms. ann last note to my girls a visit to gettysburg this morning the lesson of the falling leaves i am running into a new year turning my poem lucy one-eye if mama i was born in a hotel light cutting greens i went to the valley at last we killed the roaches in the evenings breaklight some dreams hang in the air the thirty eighth year ■ from Uncollected Poems (ca. 1975) Anniversary 5/10/74 November 1, 1975 “We Do Not Know Very Much About Lucille’s Inner Life” ■ from two-headed woman (1980) lucy and her girls i was born with twelve fingers what the mirror said there is a girl inside to merle august the 12th speaking of loss februrary 13, 1980 new year sonora desert poem my friends i once knew a man the mystery that surely is present the astrologer predicts at mary’s birth a song of mary island mary mary mary astonished by God the light that came to lucille clifton testament mother, i am mad to joan in populated air ■ from Next (1987) there this belief why some people be mad at me sometimes sorrow song atlantic is a sea of bones cruelty. don’t talk to me about cruelty the lost women my dream about the cows my dream about the second coming the death of thelma sayles the message of thelma sayles the death of joanne c. enter my mother leukemia as white rabbit chemotherapy the message of jo the death of fred clifton “i’m going back to my true identity” in white america shapeshifter poems ■ from quilting (1991) i am accused of tending to the past note to myself poem beginning in no and ending in yes slave cabin, sotterly plantation, maryland, 1989 whose side are you on? shooting star this is for the mice that live man and wife poem in praise of menstruation the killing of the trees wild blessings somewhere when i stand around among poets water sign woman photograph december 7, 1989 to my friend, jerina poem to my uterus to my last period the mother’s story as he was dying blessing the boats ■ from The Book of Light (1992) LIGHT june 20 daughters sam thel 11/10 again she lived won’t you celebrate with me it was a dream each morning i pull myself here yet be dragons the earth is a living thing move samson predicts from gaza the philadelphia fire if i should further note to clark begin here night vision fury cigarettes leda 1 leda 2 leda 3 brothers ■ from Uncollected Poems (1993) hometown 1993 ones like us ■ from The Terrible Stories (1996) telling our stories the coming of fox dear fox leaving fox a dream of foxes amazons lumpectomy eve 1994 hag riding rust shadows entering the south the mississippi river empties into the gulf old man river auction street memphis what comes after this blake evening and my dead once husband in the same week heaven lorena in the meantime ■ from Blessing the Boats (2000) the times dialysis libation jasper texas 1998 alabama 9/15/63 praise song august study the masters birthday 1999 grief ■ from Mercy (2004) the gift out of body oh antic God april children surely i am able to write poems mulberry fields cancer in the mirror blood walking the blind dog hands wind on the st. marys river the tale the shepherds tell the sheep stop ■ from Voices (2008) aunt jemima cream of wheat sorrows this is what i know 6/27/06 ■ from Uncollected Poems (2006–2010) birth-day mother-tongue: the land of nod mother-tongue: we are dying ■ from Last Poems & Drafts (2006–2010) some points along some of the meridians new orleans after the children died she started bathing In the middle of the Eye ■ Previously Uncollected Poems All Praises bouquet sam, jr. MOTHER HERE IS MY CHILD Poem To My Yellow Coat Poem With Rhyme Rounding the curve near Ellicot City entering earth to black poets quartz lake, Alaska Index of Poems Acknowledgments About the Author About the Editor Colophon foreword 1 No one writes like Lucille Clifton, and yet, if it were possible to open a voice, like a suitcase, to see what it carries inside it, I believe that inside the voices of many contemporary U.S. American poets are the poems of Lucille Clifton. There is the ferocity of her clear sight. There is the constellatory thinking where every thing is
