“My
mother, religious-negro, proud of / having waded through a storm, is very
obviously, / a sturdy Black bridge that I / crossed over, on.”
– Carolyn M. Rodgers
Rodgers, born on this date in 1945,
wrote poetry, essays and short stories about Black identity, religion and
revolution while founding and operating one of America’s oldest Black presses,
Third World Press. 
She won wide acclaim
for Songs of a Blackbird and its powerful
poems addressing themes of survival, street life, conflicting mother-daughter
relationships, and a concern for the "black woman poet." Blackbird also won a National
Endowment of the Arts award. For
Saturday’s Poem, here is Rodgers’,
She won wide acclaim
for Songs of a Blackbird and its powerful
poems addressing themes of survival, street life, conflicting mother-daughter
relationships, and a concern for the "black woman poet." Blackbird also won a National
Endowment of the Arts award. For
Saturday’s Poem, here is Rodgers’,
Some Me of Beauty
I took a good long look at myself in a full length mirror
Sometimes it’s good to look in a full length mirror
And what I saw was not some soul sister poetess of the moment
But I saw just a woman
Just a woman feeling
Just a woman human
And what I felt was
What I felt was a spiritual revelation
And what I felt was a root revival of some love coming on
Coming on strong
And I knew then, looking in a full length mirror,
That many things were over
And some me of beauty was about to begin
I took a good long look at myself in a full length mirror
Sometimes it’s good to look in a full length mirror
And what I saw was not some soul sister poetess of the moment
But I saw just a woman
Just a woman feeling
Just a woman human
And what I felt was
What I felt was a spiritual revelation
And what I felt was a root revival of some love coming on
Coming on strong
And I knew then, looking in a full length mirror,
That many things were over
And some me of beauty was about to begin
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