Nikki Giovanni Quotes

Politics is personal. That, however, doesn’t mean it’s ideological. It means that one cares about what she or he is doing, what he or she is writing…

<TABLE><TR><TD> Paint me Hopeful </TD><TD> Paint Me Futuristic </TD><TD> Paint Me Nikki </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD> I'm a Poet</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE>

...i believe
the most beautiful poem
...is your heart
racing

I'm a big fan of the black woman and so I'm always looking at aspects of the black woman--what she's doing and how she does it.

then I awoke and dug
that if i dreamed natural
dreams of being a natural
woman doing what a woman
does...
i would have a revolution

let's build
what we become
when we dream

There is a game I must tell you of
It's called Catch the Leader Lying
(and knowing your sense of the absurd
you will enjoy this)
...
You must invent your own games and teach us old
ones how to play

You have to read the poem and say, “My god, that’s a good poem,” and kind of smile at yourself. If you’re not willing to do that, then you’re wasting your time, and you’re hurting yourself in another way because you’re trying to please somebody who doesn’t like you. You don’t want to get in that position.

Black love is Black wealth and they'll
probably talk about my hard childhood
and never understand that
all the while I was quite happy

if science has the most perfect language
just think of me as Mc^{<small>2</small>}
...one day
i'm gonna grab your loveand you'll be satisfied

...as i grew and matured
i became more sensible
and decided i would
settle down
and just become
a sweet inspiration

if it does not sing discard the ear
for poetry is song
if it does not delight discard
the heart for poetry is joy
if it does not inform then close
off the brain for it is dead
if it cannot heed the insistent message
that life is preciouswhich is all we poets
wrapped in our loneliness
are trying to say

...i sit waiting
for a fresh thought
to stir the atmosphere

History is wonderful. We have so much we can learn if we would quit making ideology out of history, and just deal with what happened…

The authority of the writer always overcomes the skepticism of the reader.