THE GIFT OF LUCILLE CLIFTON
FOR PASTOR ANN MURPHY
She has the voice poets and pastors wish they had.
Doesn’t fall for seduction.
Born with 12 fingers and 12 toes,
revelation accompanies her birth.
Lucille Clifton appears in 1936
like Rosalee Tompkins on this post card.
She writes, feathers waving as we dance
towards Jesus. She’s with Phillis Wheatley,
who stamps these lines valid. Phillis
who gets her name from the slave ship Phillis.
Lucy, light, Luz Bel. My mother’s name.
Every time I read her poems I get an education.
She knows what women know. Knows men.
Knows these too are your children,
this too is your child. She knew early
what this was about.
She is always dangerous, Lucille Clifton.
Jim Bodeen
African-American History Month, 2026
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