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Kissing God Goodbye: Poems 1991-1997
With the same pithy but eloquent observations characteristic of Jordan's classic poetry collections, Things that I Do in the Dark and Living Room, and her notable essay collections, Civil Wars and Technical Difficulties, Kissing God Goodbye will strike a universal chord as it witnesses the pain, confusion, and passion of what it's like to live in our society at the twilight of the twentieth century.
June Jordan's many selves, as poet, essayist, feminist, and activist come together here in a collection of poetry that is alternately lyrical, magical, shockingly spare, pungently political, yet universally resonate. Beautiful love poems are interspersed with poems about Bosnia, Africa, urban America, Clarence Thomas, affirmative action, her mother's suicide, and Jordan's bout with breast cancer.
This collection of poetry will be warmly welcomed by June Jordan loyalists and new readers who will thrill to discover a voice that has been described as one of the "most gifted poets of the late twentieth century."
June Jordan's many selves, as poet, essayist, feminist, and activist come together here in a collection of poetry that is alternately lyrical, magical, shockingly spare, pungently political, yet universally resonate. Beautiful love poems are interspersed with poems about Bosnia, Africa, urban America, Clarence Thomas, affirmative action, her mother's suicide, and Jordan's bout with breast cancer.
This collection of poetry will be warmly welcomed by June Jordan loyalists and new readers who will thrill to discover a voice that has been described as one of the "most gifted poets of the late twentieth century."
99 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 1997
5 people are currently reading
537 people want to read
About the author
June Jordan
73 books449 followersJune Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was a Caribbean-American poet and activist.
Jordan received numerous honors and awards, including a 1969-70 Rockefeller grant for creative writing, a Yaddo Fellowship in 1979, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982, and the Achievement Award for International Reporting from the National Association of Black Journalists in 1984. Jordan also won the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award from 1995 to 1998 as well as the Ground Breakers-Dream Makers Award from The Woman's Foundation in 1994.
She was included in Who's Who in America from 1984 until her death. She received the Chancellor's Distinguished Lectureship from UC Berkeley and the PEN Center USA West Freedom to Write Award (1991).
(from Wikipedia)
Jordan received numerous honors and awards, including a 1969-70 Rockefeller grant for creative writing, a Yaddo Fellowship in 1979, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982, and the Achievement Award for International Reporting from the National Association of Black Journalists in 1984. Jordan also won the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award from 1995 to 1998 as well as the Ground Breakers-Dream Makers Award from The Woman's Foundation in 1994.
She was included in Who's Who in America from 1984 until her death. She received the Chancellor's Distinguished Lectureship from UC Berkeley and the PEN Center USA West Freedom to Write Award (1991).
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 2, 2022
2,5 stars /// When it comes to African American literature, I feel like I have already read a lot of "the greats". I only started reading writers such as James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Lorraine Hansberry, Jean Toomer, August Wilson, Nella Larsen, Zora Neale Hurston and Carter G. Woodson four years ago – Toni Morrison and Octavia E. Butler I've only truly discovered this year! –, so I'm pretty proud of myself that I'm already familiar with a lot of their work, whilst also having checked out more obscure writers such as Fran Ross and Gloria Naylor, or the works of Civil Right's activists Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Assata Shakur, Angela Y. Davis and John Lewis.
When it comes to African American poetry though, I'm more familiar with the younger generation, poets like Claudia Rankine, Jericho Brown, Danez Smith and Safia Elhillo immediately come to mind. From the older generation I've only dabbled in the works of Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde and Langston Hughes a bit. The work of poets such as Lucille Clifton, Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou and Phillis Wheatley is still unknown to me.
In case you're unfamiliar with her: June Jordan (1936-2002) was a Jamaican American, bisexual poet, essayist, teacher and activist. In her writing she explored issues of gender, race, immigration and representation.
She grew up in Harlem as the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents. She credits her father with passing on his love of literature, as she began writing her own poetry at the age of seven. Throughout her career, she felt strongly about using AAVE as a legitimate expression of her culture, and she encouraged young Black writers to use that idiom in their writing as well. She died of breast cancer at the age of 65, having published 27 books in her life. In June 2019, she was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument.
Kissing God Goodbye collects poems that June Jordan wrote from 1991 to 1997. Her many selves, as poet, essayist, feminist and activist, come together, as she muses on love, her mother's suicide, her own bout with cancer, but also writes about Bosnia, Lebanon, Clarence Thomas, Operation Rescue and affirmative action.
Overall, it was an engaging collection as it displays a diverse array of themes and topics. Personally, I found the poems on social justice to be a lot more effective and interesting than the ones dedicated to her lover. (But that isn't all that surprising.)
My favorite poems include: "November Poem for Alegría: 1996", "Haiku for the Would-be Killers of a Teacher", "The Bombing of Bagdad", "Poem Because the 1996 U.S. Poet Laureate Told the San Francisco Chronicle There Are "Obvious" Poets—All of Them White—and Then There Are "Representative" Poets—None of Them White", "Poem #1 for b.b.L." and "Kissing God Goodbye".
When it comes to African American poetry though, I'm more familiar with the younger generation, poets like Claudia Rankine, Jericho Brown, Danez Smith and Safia Elhillo immediately come to mind. From the older generation I've only dabbled in the works of Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde and Langston Hughes a bit. The work of poets such as Lucille Clifton, Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou and Phillis Wheatley is still unknown to me.
All who believe these thingsAnd so June Jordan was another one of those names that I had definitely heard of before, but that I still hadn't read it. By chance, I stumbled upon one of her last poetry collections and, naturally, picked it up.
they were already dead
They no longer stood in the possibly humane
In case you're unfamiliar with her: June Jordan (1936-2002) was a Jamaican American, bisexual poet, essayist, teacher and activist. In her writing she explored issues of gender, race, immigration and representation.
She grew up in Harlem as the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents. She credits her father with passing on his love of literature, as she began writing her own poetry at the age of seven. Throughout her career, she felt strongly about using AAVE as a legitimate expression of her culture, and she encouraged young Black writers to use that idiom in their writing as well. She died of breast cancer at the age of 65, having published 27 books in her life. In June 2019, she was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument.
You mean to tell me that the planetAlice Walker said of her: "Jordan is among the bravest of us, the most outraged. She feels for all of us. She is the universal poet." And Toni Morrison commented: "In political journalism that cuts like razors in essays that blast the darkness of confusion with relentless light; in poetry that looks as closely into lilac buds as into death's mouth ... [Jordan] has comforted, explained, described, wrestled with, taught and made us laugh out loud before we wept ... I am talking about a span of forty years of tireless activism coupled with and fuelled by flawless art."
is the brainchild
of a single
male
head of household?
Kissing God Goodbye collects poems that June Jordan wrote from 1991 to 1997. Her many selves, as poet, essayist, feminist and activist, come together, as she muses on love, her mother's suicide, her own bout with cancer, but also writes about Bosnia, Lebanon, Clarence Thomas, Operation Rescue and affirmative action.
Overall, it was an engaging collection as it displays a diverse array of themes and topics. Personally, I found the poems on social justice to be a lot more effective and interesting than the ones dedicated to her lover. (But that isn't all that surprising.)
The Bombing of BagdadIn these poems, June Jordan's voice is powerful. Her words cut like a knife, and her message is crystal clear. I loved the urgency of the poems, and how they made me flinch. On top of that, I found it remarkable that she concerned herself with topics surrounding the various wars the US waged in Africa, as that was not a topic I had seen formerly discussed (at least not in such a direct way) by poets of her time.
began and did not terminate for 42 days
and 42 nights relentless minute after minute
more than 110,000 times
we bombed Iraq we bombed Baghdad
we bombed Basra/we bombed military
installations we bombed the National Museum
we bombed schools we bombed air raid
shelters we bombed water we bombed
electricity we bombed hospitals we
bombed streets we bombed highways
we bombed everything that moved/we
bombed everything that did not move we
bombed Baghdad
a city of 5.5 million human beings
My favorite poems include: "November Poem for Alegría: 1996", "Haiku for the Would-be Killers of a Teacher", "The Bombing of Bagdad", "Poem Because the 1996 U.S. Poet Laureate Told the San Francisco Chronicle There Are "Obvious" Poets—All of Them White—and Then There Are "Representative" Poets—None of Them White", "Poem #1 for b.b.L." and "Kissing God Goodbye".
January 24, 2008
I read this collection as my introduction to June Jordan's poetry my senior year of college, and she quickly became my favorite poet. She weaves the personal and political together in one of the most poetic ways possible as she writes about racism, sexism, homophobia, war and injustice. Her imagery is amazing and her wording beyond description.
March 20, 2025
“And in the aftermath of carnage perpetrated in my name how should I dare to offer you my hand how shall I negotiate the implications of my shame? / My heart cannot confront this death without relief / My soul will not control this leaking of my grief / And this is for Crazy Horse singing as he dies / And here is my song of the living who must sing against the dying sing to join the living”
March 31, 2020
i like reading june jordan's love notes to a (former) lover, i like that they're messy and specific, and sometimes i try to think of how june would maybe speak them to her lover. i like that june jordan is anti imperialist before i was even born. i read quickly because i was being urged on by the speed of her writing! and then there were a few places to slow down and let a description hold me
March 30, 2019
really good mix of political and love poems !!! those RHYMES ! these are poems meant to be read out loud!
June 24, 2020
I would so love to hear these read aloud. They are like music, in space and rhythm on the page. Really careful and attentive line breaks. A weaving of personal and political that still feels relevant in many ways.
Want to read
April 2, 2009i'm still reading. but one line caught me terribly off guard yesterday while preparing for a session of influencing young minds - "And here is my song of the living / who must sing against the dying / sing to join the living /with the dead"
anyway, i'll probably be reading this on and off for a while - left it at home today by accident, pah.
anyway, i'll probably be reading this on and off for a while - left it at home today by accident, pah.
February 11, 2023
And all who believed some must die
they were already dead
And all who believe only they possess
human being and therefore human rights
they no longer stood among the possibly humane
And all who believed that retaliation/revenge/defense
derive from God-given prerogatives of white men
And all who believed that waging war is anything
besides terrorist activity in the first
place and in the last
And all who believed that F-15s/F-16s/ “Apache”
helicopters/
B-52 bombers/smart bombs/dumb bombs/napalm/artillery/
battleships/nuclear warheads amount to anything other
than terrorist tools of a terrorist undertaking
And all who believed that holocaust means something
that only happens to white people
And all who believed that Desert Storm
signified anything besides the delivery of an American
holocaust against the peoples of the Middle East
All who believed these things
they were already dead
They no longer stood among the possibly humane
And this is for Crazy Horse singing as he dies
because I live inside his grave
And this is for the victims of the bombing of Baghdad
because the enemy traveled from my house
to blast your homeland
into pieces of children
and pieces of sand
And in the aftermath of carnage
perpetrated in my name
how should I dare to offer you my hand
how shall I negotiate the implications
of my shame?
My heart cannot confront
this death without relief
My soul will not control
this leaking of my grief
And this is for Crazy Horse singing as he dies
And here is my song of the living
who must sing against the dying
sing to join the living
with the dead
*
You mean to tell me that the planet
is the brainchild
of a single
male
head of household?
*
our names become
the names of the dead
our names become
the names of the iniquitous
the names of the accursed
the names of the tribes of the abomination
because
my name is not Abraham
my name is not Moses/Leviticus/Solomon/Cain or Abel
my name is not Matthew/Luke/Saul or Paul
My name is not Adam
My name is female
my name is freedom
my name is the one who lives outside the tent of the father
my name is the one who is dark
my name is the one who fights for the end of the kingdom
my name is the one at home
my name is the one who bleeds
my name is the one with the womb
my name is female
my name is freedom
my name is the one the bible despised
my name is the one astrology cannot predict
my name is the name the law cannot invalidate
my name is the one who loves
they were already dead
And all who believe only they possess
human being and therefore human rights
they no longer stood among the possibly humane
And all who believed that retaliation/revenge/defense
derive from God-given prerogatives of white men
And all who believed that waging war is anything
besides terrorist activity in the first
place and in the last
And all who believed that F-15s/F-16s/ “Apache”
helicopters/
B-52 bombers/smart bombs/dumb bombs/napalm/artillery/
battleships/nuclear warheads amount to anything other
than terrorist tools of a terrorist undertaking
And all who believed that holocaust means something
that only happens to white people
And all who believed that Desert Storm
signified anything besides the delivery of an American
holocaust against the peoples of the Middle East
All who believed these things
they were already dead
They no longer stood among the possibly humane
And this is for Crazy Horse singing as he dies
because I live inside his grave
And this is for the victims of the bombing of Baghdad
because the enemy traveled from my house
to blast your homeland
into pieces of children
and pieces of sand
And in the aftermath of carnage
perpetrated in my name
how should I dare to offer you my hand
how shall I negotiate the implications
of my shame?
My heart cannot confront
this death without relief
My soul will not control
this leaking of my grief
And this is for Crazy Horse singing as he dies
And here is my song of the living
who must sing against the dying
sing to join the living
with the dead
*
You mean to tell me that the planet
is the brainchild
of a single
male
head of household?
*
our names become
the names of the dead
our names become
the names of the iniquitous
the names of the accursed
the names of the tribes of the abomination
because
my name is not Abraham
my name is not Moses/Leviticus/Solomon/Cain or Abel
my name is not Matthew/Luke/Saul or Paul
My name is not Adam
My name is female
my name is freedom
my name is the one who lives outside the tent of the father
my name is the one who is dark
my name is the one who fights for the end of the kingdom
my name is the one at home
my name is the one who bleeds
my name is the one with the womb
my name is female
my name is freedom
my name is the one the bible despised
my name is the one astrology cannot predict
my name is the name the law cannot invalidate
my name is the one who loves
January 29, 2023
June Jordan is a genius poet. This was my first book-length introduction to Jordan, and I am glad that I received this recommendation in particular. I read the book in one sitting (which wasn't incredibly difficult given the length) but as soon as I finished I was drawn back in. This is a book that stays with you. To date, I have checked out this book from the library something I think like three times. Each time, I am drawn back in from the first poem. This is a book that does not lose it's magic! While some poems are duds for me, ("What Great Grief Has Made the Empress Mute" and many of the "poems for b.b.L"), it feels unfair to rate this book as anything less than five stars for the impact that it has had on me and it's sheer unforgettability. These poems are deeply moving, covering everything from the israeli invasion of Lebanon and first Qana Massacre, to the bombing of Baghdad, to her mother's suicide. I think I should note that many of these poems are meant to be read aloud.
October 21, 2024
I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED
GENOCIDE TO STOP
really do love reading the later collections of prolific and beloved poets- its interesting to see how maturity of the craft and the progression of life changes things. this is almost doubly true in Jordan's case, considering she responded very directly to contemporaneous socio-political concerns; this collection features condemnation for the war in Iraq by a poet who came of age writing about Vietnam. Also includes my favorite June Jordan poem "Intifada Incantation: Poem #8 for b.b.L".
GENOCIDE TO STOP
really do love reading the later collections of prolific and beloved poets- its interesting to see how maturity of the craft and the progression of life changes things. this is almost doubly true in Jordan's case, considering she responded very directly to contemporaneous socio-political concerns; this collection features condemnation for the war in Iraq by a poet who came of age writing about Vietnam. Also includes my favorite June Jordan poem "Intifada Incantation: Poem #8 for b.b.L".
September 17, 2017
a poetry book from 20 years ago should not be so relevant. but it is.
August 21, 2024
Checked this book out at the library for the sealey challenge, and I think I'll hold onto it for a while. The forms in this book and her repetition was insane
September 21, 2025
so very human and immediate!
June 8, 2022
"I TOLD YOU I LOVED YOU
AND I WANTED GENOCIDE TO STOP"
the first june jordan solo poetry book i purchased. this book feels interconnected, revolutionary, simple, comforting, and heartbreaking all at once. it makes me feel empowered, and feels like a time capsule of this era june jordan was writing in. not all of the poems resonated with me, but all felt important. i just love june jordan so much!
AND I WANTED GENOCIDE TO STOP"
the first june jordan solo poetry book i purchased. this book feels interconnected, revolutionary, simple, comforting, and heartbreaking all at once. it makes me feel empowered, and feels like a time capsule of this era june jordan was writing in. not all of the poems resonated with me, but all felt important. i just love june jordan so much!
April 27, 2012
I had the pleasure of going to a reading at the Amazon Bookstore in Loring Park in Minneapolis on October 29th, 1997. She was brilliant and lovely and signed my book. She also came and spoke at one of my women studies classes at the U of M. She had wonderful energy and I really enjoyed this book of poems and can still hear her voice when I read some of the them. I especially like Poem #7 for b.b.l.
April 12, 2009
A couple months ago I was read a blogger who reommended four poets, June Jordan being one.
This collection was my first exposure to her work, and I was impressed. Although it was not uniformly impressive, there were enough excellent poems in the collection including the title poem to recommend to others as well as for me to want to read more of Jordan's work.
This collection was my first exposure to her work, and I was impressed. Although it was not uniformly impressive, there were enough excellent poems in the collection including the title poem to recommend to others as well as for me to want to read more of Jordan's work.
October 30, 2007
june jordan is the most published african-american writer, and very few people actually know her name. this is my favorite collection of hers. check out 'the bombing of baghdad' - it reads like a carpet bombing.
March 30, 2009
I finally finished this collection. I am a huge fan of June Jordan, but her later work is not as good for me. This is evidenced by the fact that it took me, quite literally, months to finish this collection. I don't really remember enough of it to review it wel, besides those facts.
August 28, 2015
June Jordan is a poetry muse. She's an activist which comes across in many verses, but she can also tone it down and talk about the daily inner turmoil and triumph of being human. Read Kissing God Goodbye like I did. Then go and read everything else by her as I plan to. She's a keeper.
January 20, 2012
I really enjoyed this collection of poems, which included the political, the personal and the philosophical. Jordan's a strong voice with a specific point of view, and her strength of opinion and emotion make for a good read.
May 2, 2007
read read read. best poetry.
July 29, 2007
didn't really care for this book of poetry, but i have not given up on this author, she has a "name", i am going to discover in the next book...any suggestions?
December 16, 2007
powerful
December 27, 2009
I borrowed a line from "kissing god goodbye" for the tattoo on my back: "my name is the one who loves"
November 8, 2012
Excellent. Well worth your time and money. The concluding poem is pure power and it's epic.
August 31, 2012
june jordan is my poetry hero.
November 4, 2015
;___________;
Loved it.
Why is she not well-known? Why are her books so hard to find why must Amazon have prices of hundreds of dollars to get a new copy of her book...why why why.
Loved it.
Why is she not well-known? Why are her books so hard to find why must Amazon have prices of hundreds of dollars to get a new copy of her book...why why why.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews