by Nikki Giovanni
2009.
128 pages
Genre: Poetry
Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My Thoughts:
Nikki Giovanni is one of the world’s most well-known American poets. And rightfully so. This lovely book of love poems was a welcome change from the darker and angsty stuff that I normally read (and write).
Titled Bicycles, “because love requires trust and balance,” the book opens and ends with poems about the Virginia Tech Shooting, which is where Giovanni teaches. I thought at first that was an odd addition to a book of love poems, but the more I reread them, I think they were the perfect fit because it is after all love that overcomes tragedy.
The poems in between are a joy to read. They reveal a fresh look at love from many angles, taking care to not overwhelm with sappy lines from a drunken romantic.
One in particular that I found moving was a poem written for one of Giovanni’s students. He was finding fame in playing football, but she gives him a gentle reminder that fame too often comes with a price and he cannot allow that to let him lose sight of what matters.
My only regret is that for all Nikki Giovanni has accomplished, I have not read more of her work. I intend to change that.
Favorite Poems/Lines:
Your Shower
I wish I could be
Your shower
I would bubble
Your hair
Tickle my way
Down to your lips
Across your shoulders
And over your back
Around your waist
Bouncing off your knees
Falls to the tips
Of your toes
Then journey back
Again
Warm Wet
Sticky Sweet
Up and Down
Around and Around
Around and Around
Around and Around
Until
There is
No more hot
Water
from I Am Glass
We are all more than our experiences
and less than our dreams
My Sleep
I appreciate my sleep
In sleep my conversation
is witty
My home is dusted
My office work
is up to date
The dog
is even
well behaved
And food is on the table
on time
But then
when I’m asleep
I don’t have you
to clutter and confuse
My hungry heart
Flight Delay
I uncharacteristically ate
A slice of sausage pizza
And characteristically drank
A regular PepsiI characteristically thought
Of you
And uncharacteristically said
To myselfNobody loves me
I characteristically chastised
Myself
By uncharateristically sneeringSo what
Everybody can’t love you
Anyway
But I characteristically wanted
You
To uncharacteristically be
Here
In this all too familiar airport
During
A characteristic
Flight Delay
LOVE (AND THE MEANING OF LOVE)
I wanted to
But you couldn’t
I hoped
But you wouldn’t
I understood
Why we shouldn’t
So you declined
And we didn’t
But it would
Have been fun
If we would’ve
Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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