Analysis Of Lucille Clifton s The Poetry Of A Negro

â€Å"I continue to write since my life as a human only includes my life as a poet, it doesn’t depend on it†, Lucille Clifton. Known to most as Lucille Clifton, Thelma Lucille Sayles was born to Samuel L. and Thelma Moore Sayles on June 27, 1936 in Depew, New York. Her parents were a New York steel mill worker and a homemaker/launderer and lived in poverty. Clifton overcame adversity and earned a scholarship to attended Howard University at the age of sixteen as a drama major, then in 1955 she transferred to Fredonia State Teacher’s College now known as Fredonia State University of New York. She was introduced to her husband by Ishmael Reed, an author, poet, and activist, who later took her poems to Langston Hughes in 1966 to be included in his†¦show more content†¦Recurring themes in her poetry are embracing ancestors past, self discovery, reconciliation, the black experience, self worth reassurance, female sensibility, and concerns of black women. Cli fton’s writing style can be described as being moral and hopeful. Lucille Clifton empowers women and African Americans throughout her poetry which shows the strength and beauty of the intricacies of her life. Clifton’s poetic style suggests that she doesn’t like to follow â€Å"the crowd†. I also don’t fit in with â€Å"the crowd† because I view and act differently than the social norm. Hearing that Emmy Award winning Lucille Clifton chooses not to conform to society either, I don’t feel inadequate or substandard for standing out. I embrace it. Clifton explains in an interview, why she uses lowercase letters, short stanzas and around five syllables. She said, â€Å"I use simple language. I have never believed for anything to be valid or true or intellectual or â€Å"deep† it had to be complex. I deliberately use the language that I use (Evans 137).† This is reflected in her poems. In â€Å"homage to my hips†, from Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980, you can see the tendency to adhere to as few syllables as possible, yet be rich in wisdom. these hips are big hips they need space to move around in. they don t fit into little petty places. these hips are free hips. they don t like to be held back.