The Beep Beep Poem

Annotation — Kent / Jackson State Songs

Poetry, spoken-word track Folkways Records1 Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennese on June 7, 1947 She is called the Princess of Black Poetry The Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement inspired her poetry She has been nominated for a Grammy Award She is a University Proffesor at Virginia Tech. "don't they understand at Kent State, the troopers will shoot again" "I should write a poem, but there's almost nothing that Hasn't been said and said and said, beautifully ugly Blandly excitingly, stay in school, make love not war Death to all tyrants, where have all the flowers gone And don't they understand at Kent State, the troopers Will shoot again I could write a poem because I Love walking in the rain and the solace of my naked Body in a tub of water cleanliness may not be next To godliness but it sure feels good, I wrote a poem For my father but it was so constant, I burned it up He hates change and I'm baffled by sameness, I Composed a ditty about encore american and Worldwide news but the editorial board said no one Would understand it, as it people have to be tricked Into sensitivity though of course they do, I love to Drive my car hours on end along back country roads I love to stop for cider and apples and acorn squash Three for a dollar, I love my CB when the truckers talk And the hum of the diesel in my ear, I love the Aloneness of the road when I ascent descending curves The power within my toe delights me and I fling my Spirit down the highway, I love the way I feel When I pass the moon and I holler to the stars I'm coming through, beep beep"Sources1Smithsonian Folkways: African american spoken poetry↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Born 7 June 1943, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Currently Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

Themes

Anti-War · Kent State · LGBTQ+

In collections

Kent / Jackson State Songs