Saturday, February 12, 2011

It was a dream

in which my greater self
rose up before me
accusing me of my life
with her extra finger
whirling in a gyre of rage
at what my days had come to.
what,
i pleaded with her, could i do,
oh what could I have done?
and she twisted her wild hear
and sparked her wild eyes
and screamed as long as
i could hear her
This.  This. This.

I think the poem is very self-explanatory. Lucille Clifton the author is looking back on her own life and is critisizing it. In this "dream" Clifton has her greater self or maybe the woman she always wanted to be is telling her in rage what she could have done differently to make her past life better. I personally think she is looking on her life as if she were dead. Her dead self is remembering her life- like right before you die you see 'your whole life flash before you', and her dying self is questioning whether she lived her life to the fullest. Her dead self is regretting it and saying This is what you could have done This. This. This. Whatever 'This' is, is a mystery to me. I do not know Lucille Clifton's aspirations.

1 comment:

  1. Good. Try to use the poetry language we've talked about. :)

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