‘won’t you celebrate with me’ by Lucille Clifton addresses racism and inherent gender inequality. The speaker has overcome every hurdle and modeled herself in her own image.
This poem is considered a powerful and significant poem in Lucille Clifton's body of work, and many readers and literary critics appreciate its themes of determination, resilience, and celebration of the self in the face of adversity. The poem's use of spare language, free verse structure, and straightforward tone also makes it accessible to a wide range of readers.
won't you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
‘jasper texas 1998’ by Lucille Clifton is a devastating poem that illustrates both the poet’s frustrated fury over and the dehumanizing barbarity of systemic racial violence against Black people in the United States.
This is an immensely impactful and moving example of Lucille Clifton's poetry, which often offers unabashed and unblinking glimpses into the cruel ways racism against Black Americans has manifested itself. The poem's incredibly visceral imagery and use of figurative language make it a brutally emotional experience for the reader, one that illustrates in stark terms the barbarism of racial violence.
i am a man's head hunched in the road.
i was chosen to speak by the members
of my body. the arm as it pulled away
pointed toward me, the hand opened once
‘At Last We Killed The Roaches’ by Lucille Clifton is a thoughtful poem about an experience in a speaker’s childhood with roaches. Read a complete summary and analysis of the poem.
This poem is about the death of Lucille Clifton’s husband, Fred James Clifton, who passed away on 11 October 1984 at the age of 49. It evokes the spirit of Fred and describes his discovery of something new.
‘to my last period’ by Lucille Clifton is a thoughtful poem. In it, the speaker mourns for her lost youth and acknowledges further changes to come.
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