Lucille Clifton
Today, we belatedly note the birth date of Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010), American poet, writer, and educator from Buffalo, New York. From 1979 to 1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland. Her poetry "examine[d] the inner world of her own body", used the body as a "theatre for her poetry".
Homage To My Hips
these hips are big hips.
they need space to
move around in.
they don't fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top