A Poem for a Thursday #330

Alice Walker is an American novelist, poet, and social activist. She became the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize when she was awarded it for her novel, The Color Purple. The novel was the subject of a movie and a Broadway musical. Walker is described as “a meticulous observer of human relationships and interactions.”

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.
Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.
Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone
(Uncool)
Or line the crowded
River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.

Make a merry gathering
On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.


Be Nobody's Darling
Alice Walker