Childhood Rememberances Are Always a Drag

Nikki-Rosa

by Nikki Giovanni

childhood rememberances are always a drag

if you’re Black

you always remember things like living in Woodlawn1

with no inside toilet

5 and if you become famous or something

they never talk about how happy your were to have your mother

all to yourself and

how good the water felt when you got your bath from one of those

big tubs that folk in Chicago barbeque in

10 and somehow when you talk about home

it never gets across how much you

understood their feelings

as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale

and even though you remember

15 your biographers never understand

your father’s pain as he sells his stock2

and another dream goes

and though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that

concerns you

20 and though they fought a lot

it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference

but only that everybody is together and you

and your sister have happy birthdays and very good Christmases

and I really hope no white person ever has cause to write about me

25 because they never understand Black love is Black wealth and they’ll

probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that

all the while I was quite happy

1 Woodlawn: neighborhood in Chicago

2 stock: share of ownership in a business that can be bought, sold or traded

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Theme Statement: (Title, Author, Life Lesson)

“Nikki-Rosa”

14. According to the speaker, what do people not say about the childhoods of famous African Americans?

15. Summarize what “Black love is Black wealth” means to the speaker. Use a CD to support your response.

16. Explain why this poem would be classified as a free verse.

“Hanging Fire”

17. The speaker’s primary worry seems to be

A. her own death

B. her boyfriend

C. her knees

D. her mother’s illness

Explain your answer using a CD from the poem.

18. In what way does the speaker’s mother contribute to her problems?

Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde

I am fourteen

and my skin has betrayed me

the boy I cannot live without

still sucks his thumb

5 in secret

how come my knees are

aways so ashy

what if I die

before morning

10 and momma’s in the bedroom

with the door closed.

I have to learn how to dance

in time for the next party

my room is too small for me

15 suppose I die before graduation

they will sing sad melodies

but finally

tell the truth about me

There is nothing I want to do

20 and too much

that has to be done

and momma’s in the bedroom

with the door closed.

Nobody even stops to think

25 about my side of it

I should have been on Math Team

my marks were better than his

why do I have to be

the one

30 wearing braces

I have nothing to wear tomorrow

will I live long enough

to grow up

and momma’s in the bedroom

35 with the door closed.

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Theme Statement: (Title, Author, Life Lesson)

"Nikki-Rosa" & “Hanging Fire”

19. Use the Venn diagram below to compare “Nikki Rosa” with “Hanging Fire.”

Refer to the information in the Venn diagram and write a 2 chunk paragraph on a separate sheet of paper comparing the two poems citing similarities and differences.