I’d like to share with you some of the wisdom of the brilliant Ms. Giovanni, who died recently at the age of 81 (only 10 years older than I am now).
During her lifetime, Ms. Giovanni was awarded 31 honorary degrees and performed at thousands of sold-out venues and participated in an HBO documentary about her life and work in 2022.
Check her out:
“We’re going to Mars for the same reason
Marco Polo rocketed to China,
for the same reason Columbus trimmed
his sails on a dream of spices,
for the very same reason Shakelton
was enchanted with penguins
for the reason we fall in love
It’s the only adventure.”
“Who might we be outside of the hard histories we’ve been handed?”
“We are consumed by people who sing
the same old song STAY:
as sweet as you are
in my corner
Or perhaps just a little bit longer
But whatever you do don’t change baby
Baby don’t
change.
Something needs to change.”
“I recommend old age. There’s just nothing as wonderful as knowing you have done your job.”
This is but a start. If you feel moved by these poems, her brilliance is available for free on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nikki+giovanni) and for a small price on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APVIWY).
