As A Poet And Writer, I Deeply

My Heart Is Not Peripheral To Me.

If We Lived In A Democratic State Our Language Would Have To Hurtle, Fly, Curse, And Sing, In All The Common American Names, All The Undeniable And Representative And Participating Voices Of Everybody Here.

Good Poetry And Successful Revolution Change Our Lives. And You Cannot Compose A Good Poem Or Wage A Revolution Without Changing Consciousness Unless You Attack The Language That You Share With Your Enemies And Invent A Language That You Share With Your Allies.

What Tyranny Could Exceed A Tyranny That Dictates To The Human Heart?

Like A Lot Of Black Women, I Have Always Had To Invent The Power My Freedom Requires.