Making a Connection

You know I would love to say that I've rediscovered the poet Nikki Giovanni but the truth is that I'm just discovering Ms. Giovanni's work. There are two poems of hers that I am completely mad for right now - "Choices" and "Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)."

The poem "Choices" really seems to tap into my current perspective on my life - when I examine my life decisions I usually feel like they've been made in reaction to some wayward stimuli (both internal and external). I also tend to become strangely unnerved when things are going in the direction I actually want them to - it usually takes me months to adjust to any outward signs of the "rightness" in any decision I've made. I always anticipate that I've made a bad call and will have to reboot and try again.

"Choices" by Nikki Giovanni

if i can't do
what i want to do
then my job is to not
do what i don't want
to do

it's not the same thing
but it's the best i can
do

if i can't have what I want...then
my job is to want
what i've got
and be satisfied
that at least there
is something more
to want

since i can't go
where i need
to go...then I must...go
where the signs point
though always understanding
parallel movement
isn't lateral

when i can't express
what i really feel
i practice feeling
what i can express
and none of it is equal
i know
but that's why mankind
alone among the mammals
learns to cry


"Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)" by Nikki Giovanni

I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad

I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
the tears from my birth pains
created the nile
I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned
out the sahara desert
with a packet of goat's meat
and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
so swift you can't catch me

For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
He gave me rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on

My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save

I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission

I mean...I...can fly
like a bird in the sky...

Oops, sorry

Been distracted by the whole gotta go back to work thing, so sorry about the long break.