here is my hand. i am not afraid of the night.
Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems by Sonia Sanchez
When I first read the collection from which today’s quote is taken, I had a hard time getting through it. Some of the poems, some of the lines, made no sense to me. I do not like the feeling of grappling for purchase in the dark. I prefer spotlights lighting my path, illuminating the forest floor—guiding me home. I didn’t get it.
I do not like the feeling of grappling for purchase in the dark. I prefer spotlights lighting my path, illuminating the forest floor—guiding me home.
I mined the depths of the page, demanding it to reveal its secrets to me. But you can’t make demands of poetry any more than you can make demands of God. I had to be patient. I had to listen, utilizing sound when sight proved elusive. There is nothing more satisfying in the entire world than allowing a poem to reveal to you its truths. Some poems I have read dozens of times, over handfuls of years, before they have deigned to speak to me. It’s always worth the wait.
…you can’t make demands of poetry any more than you can make demands of God.
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