Women's Literature from 1960 to the Present - Audre Lorde (Poem Date 1978)
AUDRE LORDE (POEM DATE 1978)
SOURCE: Lorde, Audre. "From the House of Yemanjá." In The Black Unicorn. Crossing Press, 1978.
In the following poem, Lorde, who described herself as "a black lesbian feminist writer poet," uses a Western Nigerian legend about the goddess of the oceans to reflect upon the role of a mother.
"FROM THE HOUSE OF YEMANJÁ"1
My mother had two faces and a frying pot
where she cooked up her daughters
into girls
before she fixed our dinner.
My mother had two faces
and a broken pot
where she hid out a perfect daughter
who was not me
I am the sun and moon and forever hungry
for her eyes.
I bear two women upon my back
one dark and rich and hidden
in the ivory hungers of the other
mother
pale as a witch
yet steady and familiar
brings me bread and terror
in my sleep
her breasts are...
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