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Legacies

By Nikki Giovanni

her grandmother called her from the playground   
       “yes, ma’am”
       “i want chu to learn how to make rolls” said the old   
woman proudly
but the little girl didn’t want
to learn how because she knew
even if she couldn’t say it that
that would mean when the old one died she would be less   
dependent on her spirit so
she said
       “i don’t want to know how to make no rolls”
with her lips poked out
and the old woman wiped her hands on
her apron saying “lord
       these children”
and neither of them ever
said what they meant
and i guess nobody ever does

Nikki Giovanni, “Legacies” from My House. Copyright © 1972 by NikkiGiovanni. Used with the permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Poet Bio

Headshot of Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her B.A. at Fisk University, and completed postgraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work and Columbia University School of Fine Arts. She was a member of the faculty at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, from 1987 to 2022. She was a major force in the community following the shootings there in 2007. In addition to her many collections of poetry, she was an accomplished spoken word artist and was nominated for a Grammy in 2004. 

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