Nikki Giovanni & Audre Lorde, two poets you should know

Today, the daddy is feeling good. He has already awaken, had a cup of java, lingered in his backyard a bit then strolled a few blocks up and down the street near the front of his house.

Still in his brown housecoat, he's sitting now in his kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee from his "Mickey's Diner" cup (named after a famous cafe in St. Paul, Minnesota. The cafe is actually a train car, small and intimate. Sometimes, the daddy goes there and talks to the customers, many of whom are homeless, including veterans of Vietnam and Iraqi war). And he's listening to Mahalia Jackson sing "Precious Lord" and "We shall overcome" and blogging.

Having had a restful weekend and feeling no desire to do any work at all, the daddy is chilling. In fact, he is thinking about the things that help him to relax: Listening to Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, The Five Blind Boys and The Soul Stirrers sing gospel on Sundays; walking by the Mississippi river on weekends; and reading by the fireplace until he goes to sleep during week nights.

The daddy especially loves to read poems about relaxation, meditation, restfulness and calm. He loves poems about water, work and play on farms (the type of stuff Seamus Heaney writes) or simple things around a house like gardening, bathing or cooking. Poet Nikki Giovanni may be better known for fiery poems she wrote about revolution and black militancy in the sixties, but this is vastly overstated. The truth? She wrote then-- and still writes now-- about herself, her relationships, her family and the world around her. In "A Certain Peace," Giovanni (photo on the right) speaks of the importance of making time to be alone. After many years, Giovanni continues to astound with her mastery of her craft and her tremendous imagination.

The late Audre Lorde was more than a poet. She was a social activists for many causes, including the cause of research to conquer breast cancer. Like Giovanni, she was mistakenly stereotyped as a person who wrote poetry that's too political and/or didactic. But she also wrote poetry that was bittersweet and grounded in black history, the missing pages of world history. In "The Day They Eulogized Mahalia," Lorde (photo on the left) puts Mahalia Jackson's death within the context of black life in Chicago.

A Certain Peace
by Nikki Giovanni

it was very pleasant
not having you around
this afternoon
not that i don't love you
and want you and need you
and love loving and wanting and needing you

but there was a certain peace
when you walked out the door
and i knew you would do something
you wanted to do
and i could run
a tub full of water
and not worry about answering the phone
for your call
and soak in bubbles
and not worry whether you would want something
special for dinner
and rub lotion all over me
for as long as i wanted
and not worry if you had a good idea
or wanted to use the bathroom

and there was a certain excitement
when after midnight you came home
and we had coffee
and i had a day of mine
that made me as happy
as yours did you

The Day They Eulogized Mahalia
by Audre Lorde

The day they eulogized Mahalia
the echoes of her big voice were stilled
and the mourners found her
singing out from their sisters mouths
from their mothers toughness
from the funky dust in the corners
of Sunday church pews
sweet and dry and simple
and that hated Sunday morning fussed over feeling
the songs
singing out from their mothers toughness
would never threaten the lord's retribution
any more.

Now she was safe
acceptable
that big Mahalia
Chicago turned all out
to show her that they cared
but her eyes were closed
And although Mahalia loved our music
nobody sang her favorite song
and while we talked about
what a hard life she had known
and wasn't it too bad Sister Mahalia
didn't have it easier
earlier
Six Black children
burned to death in a day care center
on the South Side
kept in a condemned house
for lack of funds
firemen found their bodies

The daddy thinks he'll take a long, hot bath and think about Nikki Giovanni and Audre Lorde-- two poets you should know.