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Lesbian Poet Herstory Page Manager: |
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Trish
Shields
bard@subee.com
Please contact Trish
with your questions or suggestions for this section.
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Click on the picture below
to see that
poet's page in a previous JAW. |
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Elsa Gidlow |
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Under the able direction of poet/novelist
Trish Shields,
these pages of Just About Write will
introduce Lesbian poets from the past, a little about
their herstories, and a sampling of their works. These women were
pioneers, and they left a remarkable legacy for us
all. We urge you to take the time to learn
something about them and their lasting impressions of life,
love, and the world around us. |
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Audre Lorde |
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1934-1992 |
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The daughter of Caribbean immigrants, Audre
Lorde, black lesbian poet and political activist, was born in
New York City in 1934. During her lifetime, Lorde collected a
number of awards and honours. The Walt Whitman Citation of
Merit was instrumental in conferring upon her the mantle of
New York State Poet Laureate from 1991-1993.
Audre
published a number of books on poetry and prose during her
lifetime and was also well-known as a teacher and activist. In
1968, at a time when violence erupted over the civil rights
movement in Mississippi, she became an important voice in
the struggle against injustice. She was the co-founder of the
Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, celebrating African
American culture during a time when such things were met with
violence and destruction. She was also instrumental in forming
the Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa.
In 1979, Audre was one of the featured speakers at the
first national march for gay and lesbian liberation. A
champion for women, African Americans and the lesbian/gay
community, she was also a fervent voice for women against the
often indifferent and callous medical establishment concerning
cultural differences and insensitivity regarding women's
health issues.
Instead of buckling to societal rules
regarding breast cancer, Lorde was very open about her medical
condition. But after a 14-year battle with cancer, Audre
Lorde died in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, in 1992.
Click Here to return to
Just About Write Main Page.
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Making Love to Concrete |
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An upright abutment in the
mouth
of the Willis Avenue
bridge
a beige Honda leaps the
divider
like a steel gazelle
inescapable
sleek leather boots on the
pavement
rat-a-tat-tat best
intentions
going down for the third
time
stuck in the particular
You cannot make love to
concrete
if you care about
being
non-essential wrong or worn
thin
if you fear ever
becoming
diamonds or
lard
you cannot make love to
concrete
if you cannot
pretend
concrete needs your
loving
To make love to
concrete
you need an indelible
feather
white dresses before you are
ten
a confirmation lace veil milk-large
bones
and air raid drills in your
nightmares
no stars till you go to the
country
and one summer when you are
twelve
Con Edison pulls the
plug
on the street-corner moons
Walpurgisnacht
and there are sudden new
lights in the skystone chips that forget
you need
to become a light rope a
hammer
a repeatable
bridge
garden-fresh broccoli two dozen
dropped eggs
and a hint of
you
caught up between my
fingers
the lesson of a wooden
beam
propped up on
barrels
across a mined
terrain
between forgiving too
easily
and never giving at
all.
©1993, 1995 by Audre Lorde
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Reprinted with permission from Sister Outsider:
Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde.
© 1984. Published by The Crossing Press:
Freedom, CA
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