. "Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day"

Don't look now I'm fading awayInto the gray of my mornings

Or the blues of every nightIs it that my nails keep breaking

Or maybe the corn on my secind little piggy Things keep popping out on my face or of my life

It seems no matter how I try I become more difficult to hold

I am not an easy woman to want

They have asked the psychiatrists . . . psychologists . . . politicians and social workers

What this decade will be known for

There is no doubt . . . it is loneliness

-Nikki Giovanni, New York 1978

This image conveys loneliness, reflecting Giovanni's thoughts when she writes, "What this decade will be known for, there is no doubt... it is loneliness". Giovanni wrote this poem in the 1970s, and in it she expresses the political issues during that decade. The major theme of the poem is aging and change, and the image of a young girl looking at her reflection conveys a foreshadow of what is yet to happen, that she will age and undergo change.

2. "The Great Pax Whitie"

by Nikki Giovanni, 1960s

"In the beginning was the word

And the word was Death

And the word was niggerAnd the word was death to all niggers

And the word was death to all life

And the word was death to all

peace be stillThe genesis was lifeThe genesis was death

In the genesis of death

Was the genesis of war

be still peace be still

In the name of peace

They waged the wars

ain’t they got no shame

In the name of peaceLot’s wife is now a product of the Morton company

nah, they ain’t got no shame

Noah packing his wife and kiddies up for a holiday

row row row your boat

But why’d you leave the unicorns, noah

Huh? why’d you leave them

While our Black Madonna stood there

Eighteen feet high holding Him in her arms

Listening to the rumblings of peacebe still be still

CAN I GET A WITNESS? WITNESS? WITNESS?

He wanted to knowAnd peter only asked who is that dude?

Who is that Black dude?

Looks like a troublemaker to me

And the foundations of the mighty mighty Ro Man Cat holic church were laid

hallelujah Jesus

nah, they ain’t got no shame

Cause they killed the Carthaginiansin the great appian way

And they killed the Moors“to civilize a nation”And they just killed the earth

And blew out the sun

In the name of a god

Whose genesis was white

And war wooed god

And america was born

Where war became peace

And genocide patriotism

And honor is a happy slave

cause all god’s chillun need rhythm

And glory hallelujah why can’t peace be still

The great emancipator was a big

otain’t they got no shame

And making the world safe for democracy

Were twenty millon slaves

nah, they ain’t got no shame

And they barbecued six million

To raise the price of beefAnd crossed the 38th paralle

lTo control the price of riceain’t we never gonna see the light

And champagne was shipped out of the East

While kosher pork was introduced

To AfricaOnly the torch can show the wayIn the beginning was the deed

And the deed was death

And the honkies are getting confusedpeace be still

So the great white prince

Was shot like a nigger in texas

And our Black shining prince was murdered

like that thug in his cathedral

While our nigger in memphis

was shot like their prince in dallas

And my lordain’t we never gonna see the light

The rumblings of this peace must be stilledbe stilled be stillahh Black people

ain’t we got no pride?"

In case one can not figure out, this poem involves social protest during the civil rights movement. Giovanni mocks those who found blacks unintelligent by using improper grammar such as "ain't got no shame". She also breaks down Roman Catholic as "Ro Man Cat Holic" conveys African Americans being ridiculed for being less educated than Caucasians, because they need to enunciate their words. Giovanni using a biblical reference of an African American being a troublemaker, reflects that African Americans have been discriminated since biblical times; it also conveys that African Americans have been discriminated for years and that the reason for the discrimination are outdated and invalid. Though Giovanni illustrates violence, she never offers a solution, a pattern often found in her other published works.

3."Balance" by Nikki Giovanni
"in life one is always balancing

like we juggle our mothers against our fathers

or one teacher against another

(only to balance our grade average)

3 grains of salt to one ounce truth

our sweet black essence or the funky honkies down the streetand

lately I've begun wondering

if you re trying to tell me something

we used to talk all night

and do things alone together

and i've begun

(as a reaction to a feeling)

to balance the pleasure of loneliness

against the pain of loving you."

This poem has is personally significant to me, because my life is made up of balances. Currently, I am undergoing maintaining the balance of the present and the future. With college applications being due, it is very easy for me to get caught up in my future and the road ahead. However, I get pulled away from this state of mind when I realize I have to maintain my current grades on top of my applying to colleges. It is difficult to balance the two, because I'm caught in high-school mode, but I have to be aware that next year I will be out on my own.