Black Wings and Blind Angels

by Sapphire

With fierce candor and an unflinching eye, the highly praised author of Push journeys through the harsh realities of African American existence to find the "door to the possibility of now." The heroes that emerge from these forty-seven vigorous poems confront the agony of betrayal as they strive in their quest for self-transformation and redemption.

From the city streets to the rich landscape of dreams, each of these poems holds out the "black wings of expectation" offering the chance to emerge from the pain of the past and arrive at "the day you have been waiting for/when you would finally begin to live." At turns alarming and inspiring, the raw lyrics and piercing wisdom of Black Wings & Blind Angels remind us of Sapphire's place as a unique and fearless voice.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, African American

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Sapphire the Author.

Sapphire is the author of Push, American Dreams, The Kid, and Black Wings & Blind Angels.

Push: A novel, won the Book-of-the-Month Club’s Stephen Crane award for First Fiction, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s First Novelist Award, and in Great Britain, the Mind Book of the Year Award. Named by the Village Voice and Time Out New York as one of the top ten books of 1996, Push was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work of Fiction. Push was adapted into the Oscar winning film, Precious.

Sapphire’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Black Scholar, Spin, and Bomb. In February of 2007 Arizona State University presented PUSHing Boundaries, PUSHing Art: A Symposium on the Works of Sapphire. Sapphire's poetry has appeared in the following anthologies: Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Grabbed: Poets & Writers on Sexual Assault, Empowerment & Healing, and New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent. Sapphire’s work has been translated into over a dozen languages and has been adapted for stage in the United States and Europe.

An excerpt from Sapphire's novel in progress, "The Harlem Trilogy," and a new poem, "Poem Found in Scientific American," along with an online interview can be found in the January 2024 issue of Torch Literary Arts:
https://www.torchliteraryarts.org/pos...

For more information, visit:
https://linktr.ee/sapphiretheauthor

Reviews

[Tsehay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this again after watching Precious (I didn't love 'Push' though suppose it was a great book). As usual it seems to be the gritty, taboo factor that keeps your eyes locked on the pages. Not an easy read since it delves into abandonment, abuse, incest etc. Poem after poem Sapphire bites no words (but hey that is her trademark right!). Almost impossible to read without wincing at her stark candor (too explicit to repeat).

But Sapphire can be appreciated for laying issues out in it's pure naked form without cushioning or dressing up. If you can handle it I would def recommend giving it a read.

[Brandi Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far...really, amazingly, AWESOME! Like totally RAD AWESOME! Like sit down and lean over at the end of your seat because this is a real deal OMG fucking poet! We all have a lot to learn from the talent this scribe possesses. Turns out, I just happen to be reading this while listening to D'Angelo as candles flicker and Nag Champa sizzles and sears the air. Her words move you to the edge of all things they tell you to never write about. Truth bleeds and festers, and scabs in this book! I am a Sapphire fan, for life! This will be a book that I buy and put on the shelf next to Ginsberg, Nikki, Gwendolyn, Sonia, and Saul. *Snaps*

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing heartbreaking heartmending. riveting enough to keep my attention while hanging out with little kids at the water park & also in the backseat of a long long car ride from North Carolina to Philadelphia. really one of the best books of poems i've read in a long time.

[Maria]

in the dream
I get out
I am a smart girl and go on to college
in the dream I don’t
kill myself and live a lonely life
in the dream I resist
He doesn’t get in
and I fight back.

- from False Memory Syndrome (or, In the Dream)

It is more like a wolf
than a feeling.

[...]

You're out walking, or inside, and it, the wolf,
goes to bring you down. It hates you,
you think. Loneliness eats
too much, gives up easy, can’t bear
light, becomes a way of life.

[...]

...you,
wanting someone whole and passionate, get me
walking across the tundra, dragging the dead wolf.

I bear the dead wolf,
eat its liver, loneliness dripping from me,
drops of blood in the snow remind me of you.

- from I'll Play the Blues for You

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think i prefer sapphire's prose writing to her poetry. these didn't feel as polished or as urgent as the novel push...

[Seven · Rating 4 out of 5]

raw and beauty full!!!

[sarah panic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really incredibly struggled with this book.

[Lena Schreuder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some books stick with you. Black wings & blind angels is of them. Heartbreaking, scorching even, yet sapphire has an ability to give the right wording to the grotesque.

[Kristen Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. Is really the only word I could say after reading this collection of poetry by Sapphire. It was so in your face and raw that I didn't know what to do with myself after I finished it. The whole time I kept thinking how brave Sapphire was to write about her relationships with her parents even when it might make many uncomfortable. Definitely recommended.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raw and powerful. Too "in-your-face" for my taste.