“[Poetry is] a way of trying to come to peace with the world.” — poet Lucille Clifton

poetry: I will try

I wrote this poem in June of 2024. always determined to keep going as long as there is breath left in meI will trytry to be a good mom to my kidstry to tell my storytry to love everyone the best wayi cantry to find understandingfor what happened to metry to find joy in the most ordinaryof momentstry to dance my way throughmy most depressive episodestry find my inner peace and calm

“[Poetry is] a way of trying to come to peace with the world.” — poet Lucille Clifton

It’s her birthday today. Rita Dove said of Lucille Clifton’s body of work: In contrast to much of the poetry being written today—-intellectualized lyricism characterized by an application of inductive thought to unusual images—-Lucille Clifton’s poems are compact and self-sufficient…Her revelations then resemble the epiphanies of childhood and early adolescence, when one’s lack of preconceptions about the self allowed for brilliant slippage into…