Lucille Clifton (1936–2010)
won’t you celebrate with me
won't you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
Lucille Clifton (1936–2010) was an American poet and children's book author whose work garnered many awards. When she was awarded the Ruth Lilly prize in 2007, one of the judges said, “One always feels the looming humaneness around Lucille Clifton’s poems — it is a moral quality that some poets have and some don’t.” This poem is from Book of Light (Copper Canyon Press, 1993).
Selected by Amy Frykholm: amy@journeywithjesus.net
