Her Blue Body Everything We Know Earthling Poems 19651990 Complete

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This is one of the volumes I had hoarded for National Poetry Month. Alice Walker is better known as the author of The Color Purple, but she has written quite a few poems. These span from 1965 and are highly biographical, from her trip to Kenya to her work in voter registration in Mississippi, through relationship ups and downs, up through having children. I had first skimmed through them when I was helping a friend find a poem for his mother's funeral, but getting to have a more careful reading This is one of the volumes I had hoarded for National Poetry Month. Alice Walker is better known as the author of The Color Purple, but she has written quite a few poems. These span from 1965 and are highly biographical, from her trip to Kenya to her work in voter registration in Mississippi, through relationship ups and downs, up through having children. I had first skimmed through them when I was helping a friend find a poem for his mother's funeral, but getting to have a more careful reading was an even better experience.

Read the entirety of these poems:

Be Nobody's Darling, probably my favorite!

Expect Nothing

Here is a little bit from another one I liked, Rage.
"The silence between your words
rams into me
like a sword."

And this tiny part of Listen:
"Every time you say
you love me
I look for shelter."

I really liked segment vii from Exercises from Themes on Life:
"I like to see you try
to worm yourself
away from me
first you plead
your age
as if my young heart
felt any of the tiredness
in your bones . . . "

This poem I'll include in its entirety (sensing a theme, hmm Alice?):

Forbidden Things

They say you are not for me,
and I try, in my resolved but
barely turning brain,
to know "they" do not matter,
these relics of past disasters
in march against the rebellion
of our time.

They will fail;
as all the others have:
for our fate will not be this:
to smile and salute the pain,
to limp behind their steel boot
of happiness,
grieving for forbidden things.

...more

Jun 19, 2015 Tristan rated it liked it

This contains the complete text of Walker's first four books of poetry as well as some previously uncollected pieces. Each component book will be treated separately, and then the "new" poems.

Once
Read review here

Revolutionary Petunias
Read review here

Good Night Willie Lee, I'll See You In the Morning
Read review here

Horses Make A Landscape Look More Beautiful
Read review here

We Have a Beautiful Mother: Previously Uncollected Poems

These poems were most like those of Horses Make a Landscape Look More

This contains the complete text of Walker's first four books of poetry as well as some previously uncollected pieces. Each component book will be treated separately, and then the "new" poems.

Once
Read review here

Revolutionary Petunias
Read review here

Good Night Willie Lee, I'll See You In the Morning
Read review here

Horses Make A Landscape Look More Beautiful
Read review here

We Have a Beautiful Mother: Previously Uncollected Poems

These poems were most like those of Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful. The uncollected poems had some really brilliant moments, and were good, but still lacked the level of lyricism that Walker attained in Once. Much of Walker's poetry, throughout the whole collection, felt more like gifted and passionate mini-essays and manifestos than poems that were strictly as such. This is particularly true of "If There Was Any Justice" and the prose poems "My Heart Has Reopened to You" (which really felt like an essay) and "The Right to Life: What can the White Man Say to the Black Woman?" Walker's energy is never in question; she feels deeply and honestly about each and every event, person, and idea she encounters in her poetry and in a poetics of emotion that fiery anger of "The Right to Life" and "We Have a Map of the World", the desperate pride of "Ndebele", and the shining hope of "A Woman is Not a Potted Plant" and "We Have a Beautiful Mother" are perfect examples of distilled truth and feeling. Unfortunately, many of those same poems fall when confronted with a poetics of sound, although "We Have a Map of the World" sings as much as anything in Once:

The old men
show
their power
by exploding
weapons
deadly seed
deep inside
the body
of the earth.

They grunt
that they see God
in the flash
that blinds
them
and us.

I also liked the imagery and flow of "Ndebele", "A Woman is Not a Potted Plant", and "We Have a Beautiful Mother" each of which is just about to stray into the land of essay rather than of poetry. The combination of prose poems and poems with exceptionally short lines is interesting to see--because these poems were uncollected and written at different times, both poems that seem to depend on a continuous flow of ideas and ones that draw meaning from the pauses and spaces are thrown together, with better and less good examples of both kinds filling the section.

Her Blue Body Everything We Know is an interesting look at the development of Alice Walker's poetry between 1965 ad 1990, even if the actual poems seemed, at times, to be lacking. Walker's fiction and essays are high on the list of materials to read if her prose maintains the energy of her poetry as they should make better use of her lucidity and fairly straightforward language.

...more

I love alice walker. I love her novels, which read like poems. In fact, before I knew she was a poet, I knew she was a poet.

And I love this volume of her poetry. The title poem is a stunning piece of environmental consciousness coupled with simple, but powerful, images of the earth as a body/the body as the earth. Her sensibility oozes out of these words, even more than in her novels.

It's reprinted on my blog here .

I love alice walker. I love her novels, which read like poems. In fact, before I knew she was a poet, I knew she was a poet.

And I love this volume of her poetry. The title poem is a stunning piece of environmental consciousness coupled with simple, but powerful, images of the earth as a body/the body as the earth. Her sensibility oozes out of these words, even more than in her novels.

It's reprinted on my blog here .

...more

Aug 23, 2014 Cyndi Lu rated it it was amazing

I absolutely loved drowning in this book. Alice Walker poured her heart and soul onto these pages to express what it means to be an African American woman in the mid to late Twentieth Century. She writes about exploring her African, Native American, and white ancestry; about finding herself within the segregated South, the Civil Rights movement, and the West Coast; about love, loss, motherhood, and life in general. One of the best collections of poetry I have ever read.

I LOVE her poetry! She reminds me of Maya Angelou, whom I also love. Their poems speak to my soul, like Langston Hughes' poetry does. Highly recommended!! I LOVE her poetry! She reminds me of Maya Angelou, whom I also love. Their poems speak to my soul, like Langston Hughes' poetry does. Highly recommended!! ...more

This poetry collection is being quoted as being more of an anthology offering a historical perspective on three decades of political and spiritual issues. I made many notes to do further research to better understand some events the poet wrote about. I did feel lost on some of her poems but that is my incomplete knowledge of historical events. I look forward to reading more from Alice Walker.

Oct 11, 2018 T.L. Cooper rated it it was amazing

Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems from 1965-1990 Complete by Alice Walker examines life on Earth and the interactions of Earthlings, particularly human beings interaction with other Earthlings. Walker taps into emotions and attitudes that aren't always comfortable to face with an eloquence that keeps the reader riveted with anticipation even when wanting to say "not me. oh no not me." Walker creates images that transcend the moment and descriptions that take the reader deeper int Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems from 1965-1990 Complete by Alice Walker examines life on Earth and the interactions of Earthlings, particularly human beings interaction with other Earthlings. Walker taps into emotions and attitudes that aren't always comfortable to face with an eloquence that keeps the reader riveted with anticipation even when wanting to say "not me. oh no not me." Walker creates images that transcend the moment and descriptions that take the reader deeper into a place of deep contemplation. Often a simple poem feels like it bears tremendous complexity in its simplicity and a complicated poem feels simple when one lets it settle into the heart. Her Blue Body Everything We Know calls for us to better understand the planet that gives us life. Walker reminds us there is value all around us that we often take for granted or abuse and misuse, and that there are consequences for the actions we take. Her Blue Body Everything We Know asks us to acknowledge what we know and search for what we don't. ...more

Jan 18, 2009 Iris rated it liked it

I loved this book. I mean, loved this book. It was the first book of grown-up poetry I remember ever reading, and I was thrilled to my bones to read about sex, black hair, poverty, revolution, and to read poetry about writing poetry. As an 11-year-old in suburban Salt Lake City--an 11-year-old self-described poet living in suburban Salt Lake City-- this book opened doors for me, and made me feel not so alone.

I reread it. It has shining, beautiful moments. It has a lot of sentimental value for

I loved this book. I mean, loved this book. It was the first book of grown-up poetry I remember ever reading, and I was thrilled to my bones to read about sex, black hair, poverty, revolution, and to read poetry about writing poetry. As an 11-year-old in suburban Salt Lake City--an 11-year-old self-described poet living in suburban Salt Lake City-- this book opened doors for me, and made me feel not so alone.

I reread it. It has shining, beautiful moments. It has a lot of sentimental value for me. But.... it feels like someone just thinking to themselves, only with line-breaks. I appreciate the conversant value of it, and can appreciate it for what it is and the niche it occupies, but it doesn't blow me away.

...more

A large collection of poetry by Walker from what seemed to be a darker, less optimistic or confident period of her life. Reading this collection after reading her later works, I could understand better the celebration which seemed evident in her 2003 poetry collection Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth and her 2004 novel Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart. The poetry in this collection seemed tinted with anger and despair. This book was added to my reading list, along with all her works A large collection of poetry by Walker from what seemed to be a darker, less optimistic or confident period of her life. Reading this collection after reading her later works, I could understand better the celebration which seemed evident in her 2003 poetry collection Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth and her 2004 novel Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart. The poetry in this collection seemed tinted with anger and despair. This book was added to my reading list, along with all her works, after reading her novel mentioned above. ...more

I wouldn't say Alice Walker is the best poet out there. But there's something in her poems that I haven't found in anyone else's. It's very effortless and artless even. Her poems are like fresh spring water, or clean morning sunlight. There's a lot of pain in here but it never overwhelms. Her poems are one big act of forgiveness. I prefer them to her fiction these days. I wouldn't say Alice Walker is the best poet out there. But there's something in her poems that I haven't found in anyone else's. It's very effortless and artless even. Her poems are like fresh spring water, or clean morning sunlight. There's a lot of pain in here but it never overwhelms. Her poems are one big act of forgiveness. I prefer them to her fiction these days. ...more

Jun 19, 2007 Aimee rated it it was amazing

I have a copy of this book to carry with me when I need a pick me up, and a signed hardcover that lives at home. I've had this book for 10 years at least, and still find Walker's words powerful and nuanced. I have a copy of this book to carry with me when I need a pick me up, and a signed hardcover that lives at home. I've had this book for 10 years at least, and still find Walker's words powerful and nuanced. ...more

Sep 30, 2013 Melissa rated it really liked it

Not for the faint of heart. Revolutionary in the fearlessness that drips from every line. These works definitely provide insight into who Alice Walker unapologetically is and what life events have formed her voice and hence inspired her novels and stories.

May 26, 2007 Kelly rated it it was amazing

absolutely fantastic. i bought the book purely based on reading the poem Warning and have not been disappointed since then.

Jan 27, 2008 heartful rated it really liked it

I read this continuously from cover to cover, which I never do for poetry. It struck a deep chord with me at a hard time in my life.

Apr 17, 2008 MotherMagic rated it it was amazing

The book I took with me into labor of birthing my son. I adore Alice Walker and wanted her poems with me through that experience. A wonderful collection.

Jul 29, 2008 Beth rated it really liked it

A beautiful collection of Walker's poetry. Some of these are perrenial favorites of mine, some seem to pop up when I need them most. A beautiful collection of Walker's poetry. Some of these are perrenial favorites of mine, some seem to pop up when I need them most. ...more

Aug 27, 2008 Colette rated it it was amazing

great collection of alice walker's poems. she frames each major body of work with what was going on in her life then, which has made me appreciate it even more. lovely. great collection of alice walker's poems. she frames each major body of work with what was going on in her life then, which has made me appreciate it even more. lovely. ...more

Some of my favorite poetry.
Though I may not always agree with Walker politically, her writing is IMO superb.

Jul 27, 2011 Nik McGrath rated it it was amazing

I first read "A Woman is Not a Potted Plant" as a teenager, and it left a great impression on me. Re-reading Walker's poems have given me a renewed sense of their meaning. I first read "A Woman is Not a Potted Plant" as a teenager, and it left a great impression on me. Re-reading Walker's poems have given me a renewed sense of their meaning. ...more

This is one of my favorite volumes of poetry ever. The title poem still raises the hairs on the back of my neck because it speaks such truth to me.

Apr 30, 2015 Rena Jane rated it it was amazing

Walker takes me into her head and her heart in describing feelings and thoughts so eloquently.

I feel as though we could be soul sisters, though she's much further evolved than I am.

Walker takes me into her head and her heart in describing feelings and thoughts so eloquently.

I feel as though we could be soul sisters, though she's much further evolved than I am.

...more

I am going to preface this by saying that I am not a poetry person at all. I chose this book for a project we were doing in my YA Literature class pertaining to African American authors. I am a fan of Alice Walker, so I figured I would try this out even though it was a collection of poems.
Some of them absolutely broke my heart and impacting my thoughts dramatically. There were a select few that changed the way I thought about poetry. However, the majority of them made me feel nothing at all. A l I am going to preface this by saying that I am not a poetry person at all. I chose this book for a project we were doing in my YA Literature class pertaining to African American authors. I am a fan of Alice Walker, so I figured I would try this out even though it was a collection of poems.
Some of them absolutely broke my heart and impacting my thoughts dramatically. There were a select few that changed the way I thought about poetry. However, the majority of them made me feel nothing at all. A lot of them did not make a point or hit home to me at all. Part of that could be because I could not relate to some of the more pressing issues.
All in all, some of them were emotion-inducing, but most were not. I did look forward to continue reading it, but once I got done with it, I did not feel that it really impacted me, which is what I look for in poetry. Select poems very thoroughly got the author's point across and developed well-written arguments. All this being said, it is not my place to judge creativity, which is what poems are more so than novels in my opinion. I know that this is controversial, but it is my viewpoint.

I am now going to list the poems that I liked and took something from. There are not that many when looking at this against the rest of the book, but there looks to be quite a few when they are all typed out. I wanted to keep a record of the ones I enjoyed, and I am keeping that record here.

-not titled, page 38
-South: The Name of Home
-To The Man In The Yellow Terry
-not titled, page 119
-Johann
-To Die Before One Wakes Must Be Glad
-iii
-iv
-iii, Women
-Revolutionary Petunias
-Ending
-Remember?
-These Mornings of Rain
-S M
-Walker
-A Few Sirens
-My Daughter is Coming!
-I'm Really Very Fond
-Without Commercials
-The Thing Itself
-Torture
-These Days
-Telling
-If There Was Any Justice
-A Woman Is Not a Potted Plant

...more

Apr 23, 2019 Grady Ormsby rated it liked it

Recommends it for: poetry fans

Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems, 1965-1990 Complete by Alice Walker is a thick volume covering over twenty-five years of poetry written by an author we usually think of in relation to her novels. Most are short. Many are haiku-like. There are some aphorisms. A few are dedicatory. The collection is divided into several sections each with an introduction by Walker. The early ones were inspired by the poet's travels to East Africa in the summer of 1965. They are followed by a seri Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems, 1965-1990 Complete by Alice Walker is a thick volume covering over twenty-five years of poetry written by an author we usually think of in relation to her novels. Most are short. Many are haiku-like. There are some aphorisms. A few are dedicatory. The collection is divided into several sections each with an introduction by Walker. The early ones were inspired by the poet's travels to East Africa in the summer of 1965. They are followed by a series of poems focusing on the struggle for civil rights, equality and justice in the south. Thematically there is a broad range of subjects. There are poems centered on family sentiments, children, love, life's tragedies and letting go. There are those that are personal, some are every personal. Politics and society are included with poems about racism, misogyny, power and privilege. The eclectic blend includes the spiritual with cosmic questions, soul searching, and meaning probing. Overall it's a powerful mix. Walker writes with a melodic lyricism. Most of her poems are accessible (Though I don't have a clue about the meaning of the title). The volume is dedicated to my favorite historian Howard Zinn. Be sure to include poetry as a main course of your literary diet. ...more

May 09, 2019 Jill rated it liked it

There were several poems in the book that I liked and would read again. The book is five collections of poetry written over the years and Walker does a little introduction to what was happening in her life when she was writing each collection. For me, the first collection, "Once", is the strongest in the whole book. I enjoyed those poems more than any of the rest, I think because she really sets the mood with exploration and adventure and innocence and learning. More so than in the rest, when sh There were several poems in the book that I liked and would read again. The book is five collections of poetry written over the years and Walker does a little introduction to what was happening in her life when she was writing each collection. For me, the first collection, "Once", is the strongest in the whole book. I enjoyed those poems more than any of the rest, I think because she really sets the mood with exploration and adventure and innocence and learning. More so than in the rest, when she's sort of more settled into her life or is going through upheaval or disillusionment. The final collection is new (at the time the book came out). Each collection has a distinct feel and an underlying mood that portrays what she was going through at that point in her life. I like her work a lot, but maybe if I'd chosen to read one collection and then set the book aside and picked it up later to read another collection, I'd have appreciated the entire book more. ...more

Jun 21, 2018 Maria Berg rated it it was amazing

This was the poetry I needed, especially after reading all of Half-LIght. While reading Alice Walker talking about enjoying a rainy morning, I went outside and enjoyed a bird nibbling from my bird feeder. It felt freeing and reminded me that nothing that is happening today is new, it is part of the daily struggle I have survived to good or ill thus far. I savored these poems.

A lengthy anthology detailing the life and circumstance of Alice Walker, these poems range from talking about life, death, growing up, moving past paternal ties, and finding oneself in the truths of the landscape. It also tells of her journey towards the formulation of a political consciousness, with the intent clear: Walker's duty is to protect and stand up for BIPOC women. A lengthy anthology detailing the life and circumstance of Alice Walker, these poems range from talking about life, death, growing up, moving past paternal ties, and finding oneself in the truths of the landscape. It also tells of her journey towards the formulation of a political consciousness, with the intent clear: Walker's duty is to protect and stand up for BIPOC women. ...more

Jun 28, 2020 Ceri rated it really liked it

Such a timely- yet timeless- collection, which adeptly navigates the colossal concepts of race, love, womanhood, and death. Walker's snippets of Africa's plains and its people are both gorgeous and politically charged.

Sobering and beautiful with yearning and sadness and hope.

May 17, 2022 pluto rated it it was amazing

I honestly had a hard time putting this book down.

Nov 23, 2021 Marshall rated it really liked it

Alice Walker's work will always be some of the most powerful and personal, forever love her stuff. Spoke to me a lot and I always seem to plunge back into this book during hard times. Can't describe how touched I was by some passages, and how relatable her hurt resonated through me. Love love love

Alice Walker, one of the United States' preeminent writers, is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award. Her other books include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Temple of My Familiar, and Possessi Alice Walker, one of the United States' preeminent writers, is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award. Her other books include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Temple of My Familiar, and Possessing the Secret of Joy. In her public life, Walker has worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.
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"On Stripping Bark from Myself

(for Jane, who said trees die from it)

Because women are expected to keep silent about
their close escapes I will not keep silent
and if I am destroyed (naked tree!) someone will
please
mark the spot
where I fall and know I could not live
silent in my own lies
hearing their 'how nice she is!'
whose adoration of the retouched image
I so despise.

No. I am finished with living
for what my mother believes
for what my brother and father defend
for what my lover elevates
for what my sister, blushing, denies or rushes
to embrace.

I find my own
small person
a standing self
against the world
an equality of wills
I finally understand.

Besides:

My struggle was always against
an inner darkness: I carry within myself
the only known keys
to my death – to unlock life, or close it shut
forever. A woman who loves wood grains, the color
yellow
and the sun, I am happy to fight
all outside murderers
as I see I must."

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"When I no longer have your heart
I will not request your body
your presence
or even your polite conversation.
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