"fury," by Lucille Clifton

June 27 is the birthday of poet Lucille Clifton, born in 1936 near Buffalo, New York, the daughter of a steelworker and a laundress.  Lucille’s mother, Thelma, was a gifted poet herself - but Lucille’s father forbid her from writing, and forced Thelma to throw her poems into the fire.  Lucille later wrote:

fury

for mama

remember this.
she is standing by
the furnace.
the coals
glisten like rubies.
her hand is crying.
her hand is clutching
a sheaf of papers.
poems.
she gives them up.
they burn
jewels into jewels.
her eyes are animals.
each hank of her hair
is a serpent's obedient
wife.
she will never recover.
remember. there is nothing
you will not bear
for this woman's sake.

+ Lucille Clifton