Lucille Clifton: April 2, 1987

Frances Phillips introduces Lucille Clifton, who introduces then reads "homage to my hips." She speaks on poetry's potential for fun, notes that she writes often about body parts, then introduces and reads "what the mirror said," "homage to my hair" (all from Two-Headed Woman), and a new poem, "wishes for sons" (which would be published in Quilting: Poems). She discusses how she writes and reads for children, then reads an excerpt from her children's book, The Lucky Stone. She then reads "life in Santa Cruz: homage to The Four Tops," followed by "shapeshifter poems" (from Next: New Poems). She speaks on her fondness for the Pacific Ocean, then speaks of the Atlantic slave trade and reads an untitled poem that begins "them bones / them bones will / rise again...." Clifton tells a story about having been the Poet Laureate of Maryland, and about noticing how, while touring, she is often the only dark face in a room, then reads "in white america" (from Next). She talks about her father and the things he'd say to her, and tells the story of her lineage from a slave, Caroline Donald, to her grandfather, then reads a section of her book Generations: A Memoir beginning, "Yes, Lord, he was born with a withered arm...." Clifton ends her reading with the poem "california lessons" (from Next).