Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems 1965-1990 Complete

by Alice Walker

An anthology of poems written over three decades includes commentary by the author on the relationship of the poems to the political and spiritual issues of the time, as well as to her own development as poet and person. Reprint. AB.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Classics, Nonfiction, African American, African American Literature, Black Literature

480 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

Noted American writer Alice Walker won a Pulitzer Prize for her stance against racism and sexism in such novels as The Color Purple (1982).

People awarded this preeminent author of stories, essays, and poetry of the United States. In 1983, this first African woman for fiction also received the national book award. Her other books include The Third Life of Grange Copeland , Meridian , The Temple of My Familiar , and Possessing the Secret of Joy . In public life, Walker worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the volumes I had hoarded for National Poetry Month. Alice Walker is better known as the author of The Color Purple, but she has written quite a few poems. These span from 1965 and are highly biographical, from her trip to Kenya to her work in voter registration in Mississippi, through relationship ups and downs, up through having children. I had first skimmed through them when I was helping a friend find a poem for his mother's funeral, but getting to have a more careful reading was an even better experience.

Read the entirety of these poems:

Be Nobody's Darling, probably my favorite!

Expect Nothing

Here is a little bit from another one I liked, Rage.
"The silence between your words
rams into me
like a sword."

And this tiny part of Listen:
"Every time you say
you love me
I look for shelter."

I really liked segment vii from Exercises from Themes on Life:
"I like to see you try
to worm yourself
away from me
first you plead
your age
as if my young heart
felt any of the tiredness
in your bones . . . "

This poem I'll include in its entirety (sensing a theme, hmm Alice?):

Forbidden Things

They say you are not for me,
and I try, in my resolved but
barely turning brain,
to know "they" do not matter,
these relics of past disasters
in march against the rebellion
of our time.

They will fail;
as all the others have:
for our fate will not be this:
to smile and salute the pain,
to limp behind their steel boot
of happiness,
grieving for forbidden things.

[Byurakn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes we underestimate the value of poetry.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains the complete text of Walker's first four books of poetry as well as some previously uncollected pieces. Each component book will be treated separately, and then the "new" poems.


Once
Read review here

Revolutionary Petunias
Read review here

Good Night Willie Lee, I'll See You In the Morning
Read review here

Horses Make A Landscape Look More Beautiful
Read review here

We Have a Beautiful Mother: Previously Uncollected Poems

These poems were most like those of Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful. The uncollected poems had some really brilliant moments, and were good, but still lacked the level of lyricism that Walker attained in Once. Much of Walker's poetry, throughout the whole collection, felt more like gifted and passionate mini-essays and manifestos than poems that were strictly as such. This is particularly true of "If There Was Any Justice" and the prose poems "My Heart Has Reopened to You" (which really felt like an essay) and "The Right to Life: What can the White Man Say to the Black Woman?" Walker's energy is never in question; she feels deeply and honestly about each and every event, person, and idea she encounters in her poetry and in a poetics of emotion that fiery anger of "The Right to Life" and "We Have a Map of the World", the desperate pride of "Ndebele", and the shining hope of "A Woman is Not a Potted Plant" and "We Have a Beautiful Mother" are perfect examples of distilled truth and feeling. Unfortunately, many of those same poems fall when confronted with a poetics of sound, although "We Have a Map of the World" sings as much as anything in Once:

The old men
show
their power
by exploding
weapons
deadly seed
deep inside
the body
of the earth.

They grunt
that they see God
in the flash
that blinds
them
and us.

I also liked the imagery and flow of "Ndebele", "A Woman is Not a Potted Plant", and "We Have a Beautiful Mother" each of which is just about to stray into the land of essay rather than of poetry. The combination of prose poems and poems with exceptionally short lines is interesting to see--because these poems were uncollected and written at different times, both poems that seem to depend on a continuous flow of ideas and ones that draw meaning from the pauses and spaces are thrown together, with better and less good examples of both kinds filling the section.

Her Blue Body Everything We Know is an interesting look at the development of Alice Walker's poetry between 1965 ad 1990, even if the actual poems seemed, at times, to be lacking. Walker's fiction and essays are high on the list of materials to read if her prose maintains the energy of her poetry as they should make better use of her lucidity and fairly straightforward language.

[Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love alice walker. I love her novels, which read like poems. In fact, before I knew she was a poet, I knew she was a poet.

And I love this volume of her poetry. The title poem is a stunning piece of environmental consciousness coupled with simple, but powerful, images of the earth as a body/the body as the earth. Her sensibility oozes out of these words, even more than in her novels.

It's reprinted on my blog here .

[Cyndi Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved drowning in this book. Alice Walker poured her heart and soul onto these pages to express what it means to be an African American woman in the mid to late Twentieth Century. She writes about exploring her African, Native American, and white ancestry; about finding herself within the segregated South, the Civil Rights movement, and the West Coast; about love, loss, motherhood, and life in general. One of the best collections of poetry I have ever read.

[Sherri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This poetry collection is being quoted as being more of an anthology offering a historical perspective on three decades of political and spiritual issues. I made many notes to do further research to better understand some events the poet wrote about. I did feel lost on some of her poems but that is my incomplete knowledge of historical events. I look forward to reading more from Alice Walker.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE her poetry! She reminds me of Maya Angelou, whom I also love. Their poems speak to my soul, like Langston Hughes' poetry does. Highly recommended!!

[T.L. Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems from 1965-1990 Complete by Alice Walker examines life on Earth and the interactions of Earthlings, particularly human beings interaction with other Earthlings. Walker taps into emotions and attitudes that aren't always comfortable to face with an eloquence that keeps the reader riveted with anticipation even when wanting to say "not me. oh no not me." Walker creates images that transcend the moment and descriptions that take the reader deeper into a place of deep contemplation. Often a simple poem feels like it bears tremendous complexity in its simplicity and a complicated poem feels simple when one lets it settle into the heart. Her Blue Body Everything We Know calls for us to better understand the planet that gives us life. Walker reminds us there is value all around us that we often take for granted or abuse and misuse, and that there are consequences for the actions we take. Her Blue Body Everything We Know asks us to acknowledge what we know and search for what we don't.

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book. I mean, loved this book. It was the first book of grown-up poetry I remember ever reading, and I was thrilled to my bones to read about sex, black hair, poverty, revolution, and to read poetry about writing poetry. As an 11-year-old in suburban Salt Lake City--an 11-year-old self-described poet living in suburban Salt Lake City-- this book opened doors for me, and made me feel not so alone.

I reread it. It has shining, beautiful moments. It has a lot of sentimental value for me. But.... it feels like someone just thinking to themselves, only with line-breaks. I appreciate the conversant value of it, and can appreciate it for what it is and the niche it occupies, but it doesn't blow me away.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large collection of poetry by Walker from what seemed to be a darker, less optimistic or confident period of her life. Reading this collection after reading her later works, I could understand better the celebration which seemed evident in her 2003 poetry collection Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth and her 2004 novel Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart. The poetry in this collection seemed tinted with anger and despair. This book was added to my reading list, along with all her works, after reading her novel mentioned above.

[Jerome K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn't say Alice Walker is the best poet out there. But there's something in her poems that I haven't found in anyone else's. It's very effortless and artless even. Her poems are like fresh spring water, or clean morning sunlight. There's a lot of pain in here but it never overwhelms. Her poems are one big act of forgiveness. I prefer them to her fiction these days.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a copy of this book to carry with me when I need a pick me up, and a signed hardcover that lives at home. I've had this book for 10 years at least, and still find Walker's words powerful and nuanced.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart. Revolutionary in the fearlessness that drips from every line. These works definitely provide insight into who Alice Walker unapologetically is and what life events have formed her voice and hence inspired her novels and stories.

[Taha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice walker is one of the most brilliant writers of her generation! her poetry is simplistic, but captures the trauma that POC carry with them endlessly. Walker shows through her poetry that 'less' is indeed 'more'.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely fantastic. i bought the book purely based on reading the poem Warning and have not been disappointed since then.

[heartful · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this continuously from cover to cover, which I never do for poetry. It struck a deep chord with me at a hard time in my life.

[MotherMagic · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I took with me into labor of birthing my son. I adore Alice Walker and wanted her poems with me through that experience. A wonderful collection.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of Walker's poetry. Some of these are perrenial favorites of mine, some seem to pop up when I need them most.

[Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

great collection of alice walker's poems. she frames each major body of work with what was going on in her life then, which has made me appreciate it even more. lovely.

[Jennifer Hollett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of my favorite poetry.
Though I may not always agree with Walker politically, her writing is IMO superb.

[Nik McGrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read "A Woman is Not a Potted Plant" as a teenager, and it left a great impression on me. Re-reading Walker's poems have given me a renewed sense of their meaning.

[Debby Zygielbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite volumes of poetry ever. The title poem still raises the hairs on the back of my neck because it speaks such truth to me.

[Rena Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walker takes me into her head and her heart in describing feelings and thoughts so eloquently.

I feel as though we could be soul sisters, though she's much further evolved than I am.

[frackletum · Rating 4 out of 5]

girl is going through it

[Emma Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am going to preface this by saying that I am not a poetry person at all. I chose this book for a project we were doing in my YA Literature class pertaining to African American authors. I am a fan of Alice Walker, so I figured I would try this out even though it was a collection of poems.
Some of them absolutely broke my heart and impacting my thoughts dramatically. There were a select few that changed the way I thought about poetry. However, the majority of them made me feel nothing at all. A lot of them did not make a point or hit home to me at all. Part of that could be because I could not relate to some of the more pressing issues.
All in all, some of them were emotion-inducing, but most were not. I did look forward to continue reading it, but once I got done with it, I did not feel that it really impacted me, which is what I look for in poetry. Select poems very thoroughly got the author's point across and developed well-written arguments. All this being said, it is not my place to judge creativity, which is what poems are more so than novels in my opinion. I know that this is controversial, but it is my viewpoint.

I am now going to list the poems that I liked and took something from. There are not that many when looking at this against the rest of the book, but there looks to be quite a few when they are all typed out. I wanted to keep a record of the ones I enjoyed, and I am keeping that record here.

-not titled, page 38
-South: The Name of Home
-To The Man In The Yellow Terry
-not titled, page 119
-Johann
-To Die Before One Wakes Must Be Glad
-iii
-iv
-iii, Women
-Revolutionary Petunias
-Ending
-Remember?
-These Mornings of Rain
-S M
-Walker
-A Few Sirens
-My Daughter is Coming!
-I'm Really Very Fond
-Without Commercials
-The Thing Itself
-Torture
-These Days
-Telling
-If There Was Any Justice
-A Woman Is Not a Potted Plant

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems, 1965-1990 Complete by Alice Walker is a thick volume covering over twenty-five years of poetry written by an author we usually think of in relation to her novels. Most are short. Many are haiku-like. There are some aphorisms. A few are dedicatory. The collection is divided into several sections each with an introduction by Walker. The early ones were inspired by the poet’s travels to East Africa in the summer of 1965. They are followed by a series of poems focusing on the struggle for civil rights, equality and justice in the south. Thematically there is a broad range of subjects. There are poems centered on family sentiments, children, love, life’s tragedies and letting go. There are those that are personal, some are every personal. Politics and society are included with poems about racism, misogyny, power and privilege. The eclectic blend includes the spiritual with cosmic questions, soul searching, and meaning probing. Overall it’s a powerful mix. Walker writes with a melodic lyricism. Most of her poems are accessible (Though I don’t have a clue about the meaning of the title). The volume is dedicated to my favorite historian Howard Zinn. Be sure to include poetry as a main course of your literary diet.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Walker's stunning collection of poems, the Earthling Poems, date from 1965-1990. During this time period she traveled to East Africa where she wrote her first volume of poetry. Alice Walker is very candid in the introduction of this volume in saying that writing poetry saved her life. She concluded that she might have been a suicide victim without this outlet. This compilation of poetry plumbs the depths of her despair, wonder and curiosity about life circumstances around the globe in all their beauty and horror. There are 13 chapters that include the following "Once", "Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems", "Crucifixions'" "Stripping Bark Off Myself", "Mysteries, Living Beyond",
"Forgiveness", Revolutionary Petunias, Living Through", and "Horses Make the World More Beautiful", Under each of these headings are 1-15 poems that are filled with color, heartbreak, hope, and that intangible longing to heal and live. The chapter, Crucifixions, is especially compelling as these poems evoke her cry for belief in goodness and wholeness. A beautifully collection well worth the reader's time and reflection.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were several poems in the book that I liked and would read again. The book is five collections of poetry written over the years and Walker does a little introduction to what was happening in her life when she was writing each collection. For me, the first collection, "Once", is the strongest in the whole book. I enjoyed those poems more than any of the rest, I think because she really sets the mood with exploration and adventure and innocence and learning. More so than in the rest, when she's sort of more settled into her life or is going through upheaval or disillusionment. The final collection is new (at the time the book came out). Each collection has a distinct feel and an underlying mood that portrays what she was going through at that point in her life. I like her work a lot, but maybe if I'd chosen to read one collection and then set the book aside and picked it up later to read another collection, I'd have appreciated the entire book more.

[Drick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Color Purple was the only book I had read by Alice Walker but I knew she was a prolific author on many fronts, so I picked up this book of poems she wrote from 1965-1990. The poems ranged from subjects such as personal struggle and meaningful relationships to social and political commentary. The challenge for me in reading poetry is so often not knowing the context that gave rise to the poem. However even so, her concerns came through about women's issues, dealing with racism, the beauty and solace of nature, the joy and pain of relationships, and the ongoing struggle of understanding and contending with being a woman of color in this day and age. While I can't point to one poem that was a favorite, there were many times where a poem left thinking and feeling, "Boy, I don't know what exactly that poem was about but it had a punch and pinch to it. "For those more familiar with Alice Walker's writing and life story this is a rich treasure chest of insight and wisdom.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the book Her Blue Body, Everything We Know was a fabulous literary experience. The book starts strong and does not disappoint. Her thoughts are masterful, and there are many ways to sit and reflect on life while looking through Alice WALKER’s eyes.

This solid collection opens an incredible view into Alice's heart, showing the depth of the valleys and the elation of her moments of joy. I hesitated because there are several inferences and poems that speak to topics, not for children or young adults. But then, I guess that depends upon the reader.

It's not a book I would hand to my eighth-grade granddaughter, but I think it's a beautiful book for adults. You might find areas that make you uncomfortable, but not to the extent that you put the book down—trigger warnings on rape, sex scenes, some curse words.