The collected poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998

From one of America's most cherished and celebrated poets, a landmark collection of Nikki Giovanni's early work!

"Nikki Giovanni is one of our national treasures."--Gloria Naylor

When Nikki Giovanni's poems first emerged during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, she immediately took a place among the most celebrated and controversial artists of our time. More than 50 years later, Giovanni still stands as one of the most commanding, luminous voices to grace America's political and poetic landscape. This timeless classic brings readers Nikki Giovanni's poems from 1967 to 1983, from her books Black Feeling Black Talk; Black Judgement; Re: Creation; My House; The Women and the Men; Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day; and Those Who Ride the Night Winds.

Stirring, provocative, and resonant, these poems heralded the arrival of an indelible literary voice that resounds to this day.

The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni On Hearing "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" He has a girl who has flaxen hair My woman has hair of gray I have a woman who wakes up at dawn His girl can sleep through the day His girl has hands soothed with perfumes sweet She has lips soft and pink My woman's lips burn in midday sun My woman's hands--black like ink He can make music to please his girl Night comes I'm tired and beat He can make notes, make her heart beat fast Night comes I want off my feet Maybe if I don't pick cotton so fast Maybe I'd sing pretty too Sing to my woman with hair of gray Croon softly, Baby it's you The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni . Copyright © by Nikki Giovanni. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni by Nikki Giovanni All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.