For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf ( LADY IN ORANGE)
THIS WAS NOT DONE BY ME , BUT BY Ntozake Shange
I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THIS POEM..
SORRY FOR THE LENGTH BUT IT'S POWERFUL.
at 4:30 AM
she rose
movin the arms & legs that trapped her
she sighed affirmin the sculptured man
& made herself a bath
of dark musk oil egyptian crystals
& florida water to remove his smell
to wash away the glitter
to watch the butterflies melt into
suds & the rhinestones fall beneath
her buttocks like smooth pebbles
in a missouri creek
layin in water
she became herself
ordinary
brown braided woman
with big legs & full hips
reglar
seriously intendin to finish her
night's work
she quickly walked to her guest
straddled on her pillows & began
æyou'll have to go now /
i've
a lot of work to do / & i
cant
with a man around / here
are yr pants /
there's coffee on the
stove / it's been
very nice / but i cant see
you again /
you got what you came
for / didnt you'
& she smiled
he wd either mumble curses bout crazy b*tch*s
or sit dumbfounded
while she repeated
æi cdnt possibly wake up / with
a strange man in my bed / why
dont you go home'
she cda been slapped upside the head
or verbally challenged
but she never waz
& the ones who fell prey to the
dazzle of hips painted with
orange blossoms & magnolia scented wrists
had wanted no more
than to lay between her sparklin thighs
& had planned on leaving before dawn
& she had been so divine
devastatingly bizarre the way
her mouth fit round
& now she stood a
reglar colored girl
fulla the same malice
livid indifference as a sistah
worn from supportin a wd be hornplayer
or waiting by the window
& they knew
& left in a hurry
she wd gather her tinsel &
jewels from the tub
& laugh gayly or vengeful
she stored her silk roses by her bed
& when she finished writin
the account of her exploit in a diary
embroidered with lilies & moonstones
she placed the rose behind her ear
& cried herself to sleep.
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Submitted on August 08, 2017
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 29 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXA XBCDXEXCFXEXCXGXXCCXXDXXHXIXJXGXXFXXKKLHXMXBJLXXXXXXXJXXFCXFGAXAMDGXIX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,817 |
Words | 371 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 70 |
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"For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf ( LADY IN ORANGE)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/71533/for-colored-girls-who-have-considered-suicide-when-the-rainbow-is-enuf-(-lady-in-orange)>.
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