What does Audre Lorde's poem School Note mean? Most notably, what does the last stanza, "My children play with skulls/ and remember / for the embattled / there is no place / that cannot be / home / nor is."?
3 answers
If I could find a copy of it, I might be able to help. Is her work still under copyright?
Here is a copy of the poem:
My children play with skulls
for their classrooms are guarded by warlocks
who scream at walls collapsing
into paper toilets
plump witches mouth ancient curses
in an untaught tongue
test children upon their meaning
assign grades
in a holocaust ranging
from fury down through contempt.
My children play with skulls
at school
they have already learned
to dream of dying
their playgrounds were graveyards
where nightmares of no
stand watch over rented earth
filled with the bones of tomorrow.
My children play with skulls
and remember
for the embattled
there is no place
that cannot be
home
nor is.
My children play with skulls
for their classrooms are guarded by warlocks
who scream at walls collapsing
into paper toilets
plump witches mouth ancient curses
in an untaught tongue
test children upon their meaning
assign grades
in a holocaust ranging
from fury down through contempt.
My children play with skulls
at school
they have already learned
to dream of dying
their playgrounds were graveyards
where nightmares of no
stand watch over rented earth
filled with the bones of tomorrow.
My children play with skulls
and remember
for the embattled
there is no place
that cannot be
home
nor is.
Wow! She was a really angry person, wasn't she?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde
I think this whole poem translates that anger into words. I'm not sure, but that's how it reads to me. When was this originally published, do you know?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde
I think this whole poem translates that anger into words. I'm not sure, but that's how it reads to me. When was this originally published, do you know?