if it does not sing discard the ear for poetry is song if i… - Nikki Giovanni

" "
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

Nikki Giovanni

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About Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni (June 7, 1943 – December 9, 2024) was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator.

Also Known As

Birth Name: Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr.

Alternative Names: Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr

All quotes from Nikki Giovanni Similar Quotes by other Originators

Originators like Nikki Giovanni:

Muriel Rukeyser Suman Pokhrel Mary Oliver William Carlos Williams Gwendolyn Brooks

Additional quotes by Nikki Giovanni

if nature is true
we shall all lose our eyes
since we cannot even now distinguish
the good from the evil
...i've a mind to build
a new world
want to play

if trees could talk
wonder what they'd say
met an old man
...told me "girl! my hands seen
more than all
them books...
at tuskeegee"
...met an old woman
..."sista" she called to me
"...my feet
seen more than yo eyes
ever gonna read"
...if trees would talk
wonder what they'd tell me

let's build
what we become
when we dream

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 of… - Nikki Giovanni

About Nikki Giovanni

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