“Ever since I realized there waz someone callt/ a colored girl an evil woman a bitch or a nag/ i been tryin not to be that & leave bitterness/ in somebody else's cup...”

“without any assistance or guidance from youi have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a dayi have been stood up four timesi've left 7 packages on yr doorstepforty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i lefttown so i cd send to you have been no help to meon my jobyou call at 3:00 in the mornin on weekdaysso i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to workcharmin charminbut you are of no assistancei want you to knowthis waz an experimentto see how selifsh i cd beif i wd really carry on to snare a possible loverif i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of anotherif i cd stand not being wantedwhen i wanted to be wanted& i cannotsowith no further assistance & no guidance from youi am endin this affairthis note is attached to a planti've been waterin since the day i met youyou may water ityr damn self”

“And this is for Colored girls who have considered suicide, but are moving to the ends of their own rainbows.”

“somebody/ anybodysing a black girl's songbring her outto know herselfto know youbut sing her rhythmscarin/ struggle/ hard timessing her song of lifeshe's been dead so longclosed in silence so longshe doesn't know the soundof her own voiceher infinite beautyshe's half-notes scatteredwithout rhythm/ no tunesing her sighssing the song of her possibilitiessing a righteous gospellet her be bornlet her be born& handled warmly.”

“Where there is a woman there is magic. If there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a woman who knows her magic, who can share or not share her powers. A woman with a moon falling from her mouth, roses between her legs and tiaras of Spanish moss, this woman is a consort of the spirits.”

“i found god in myselfand i loved heri loved her fiercely”

“Through my tearsI found god in myselfand I loved her fiercely”