I <br />is the total black, being spoken <br />from the earth's inside. <br />There are many kinds of open <br />how a diamond comes into a knot of flame <br />how sound comes into a word, colored <br />by who pays what for speaking. <br /> <br />Some words are open like a diamond <br />on glass windows <br />singing out within the passing crash of sun <br />Then there are words like stapled wagers <br />in a perforated book--buy and sign and tear apart-- <br />and come whatever wills all chances <br />the stub remains <br />an ill-pulled tooth with a ragged edge. <br />Some words live in my throat <br />breeding like adders. Others know sun <br />seeking like gypsies over my tongue <br />to explode through my lips <br />like young sparrows bursting from shell. <br />Some words <br />bedevil me. <br /> <br />Love is a word, another kind of open. <br />As the diamond comes into a knot of flame <br />I am Black because I come from the earth's inside <br />now take my word for jewel in the open light.<br /><br />Audre Lorde<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/coal/
