June Jordan: April 15, 1993

Rosemary Catacalos announces the Poetry Center's upcoming events, then introduces June Jordan. Jordan remarks on traveling to England and Ireland, and working on a series of poems about that experience. She acknowledges a mistake in the advertising for the event that said she would be reading essays as well, so she reads her essay/article, "Requiem for the Champ," as published in The Progressive. She remarks on the murder of Chris Hani in South Africa, and reads poems written specifically in light of the South African struggle. She begins with "I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies" from Things That I Do in the Dark, then reads "Poem for South African Women," "Poem about My Rights," and "A Short Note to My Very Critical and Well-Beloved Friends and Comrades," from Passion. Jordan tells a story about differing attitudes to the word 'crazy' as she moves to read "A Poem about Intelligence for My Brothers and Sisters" from Passion. She then reads "Sunflower Sonnet Number Two," "Poem for Haruko," "Poem About Process and Progress," and "Resolution #1,003" from Haruko: Love Poems. She then reads "A Runaway Lil Bit Poem" from Living Room, before going back to Haruko for "Poem about Heartbreak That Go On and On" and "Poem on My Happy/Matrimonial Condition." She reads "Letter to Mrs. Virginia Thomas, Wife of Whatzhisname Lamentably Appointed to the Supreme Court, U.S.A.," "The Bombing of Baghdad," and "Bosnia, Bosnia," which would all later be published in Kissing God Goodbye. She reads "Love Song About Choosing Your Booze," which would be published in Directed by Desire: The Complete Poems of June Jordan, then ends with "Free Flight" from Passion.