Niki Giovanna

Nikki Giovanni writes poetry in terms that easier to understand than most for me. The words she uses are simple, yet they convey a much larger meaning. For example, “Niki Rosa” is a short poem that has a lot of feeling yet it is not so difficult to understand. The narrator of the poem is trying to get across that even though times were bad she was happy. All of the “white folk” as she calls it think that just because they were poor or their parents sometimes fought that black people were miserable in childhood. To the narrator, it does not seem to be the case. She had her family and that was all that mattered to her. Her love is her wealth. “I’m not Lonely” is another of Niki Giovanni’s poems that seem simple yet the feelings were so strong in the poem. The narrator of the poem shows that she has grown stronger without the other person there with her. The poem never reveals who the other person is but I am guessing it was their significant other. The narrator had nightmares about that person leaving them but now that the other person is gone the bad dreams have went away. On the other hand, the poem could be saying that the narrator is lonely and in denial. The narrator has so much space in her bed and she is not scared. I think this poem could go either way. “Poem for Black Boys” is the final poem I read that has such a strong meaning. Living in such a harsh world makes the black boys she is talking about grow up too quickly. Instead of playing typical childhood games they are forced to grow up. However, the narrator emphasizes at the end they must learn to be their own heros and teach the older black people their new games.