so cool and gold
these hoops dance,
on the edge
of my shoulders.
they match, my skin.
they set fire,
to your son.
they are loved.
they are loud,
against my ears.
they are the only
cuffs, ill ever wear
these. gold hoops
are always proud,
oh, yes, my gold
hoops, give me power.
they swing with my step,
glint with my smile,
circle around your mind and
leave you to hang.
This is part of collection for a senior portfolio project at CU Denver
Project is intended to represent the stylistic distinctions of great American poets through the imitation of their poetics and/or their subject matter
Lucille Clifton is an important feminist, as well as, racial writer. Her works encompass the conscious break from traditional standards which she exhibits in the playful brevity of her poetry, and purposeful lack of punctuation. "homage to my hips," is one of her most anthologized poems representative of her power as a black woman in the world. My imitation, "homage to my gold hoops," are representative of my own race-*** relations in the world I live in. The negative connotation that gold hoops have gained over time (e.g. "the bigger the hoop the bigger the ***") is an example of removing power from a female object and lending it to the male point of view. In this poem, as I do everyday, I take this power back with my gold hoops.
