What do you think?
Rate this book
Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000
Lucille Clifton, one of America's most important and distinguished poets, employs brilliantly honed language, stunning images, and sharp rhythms to address the whole of human experience. Hers is a poetry that is passionate and wise, not afraid to confront our most salient issues.
"Although her work is often spare and simple, it is always beautifully and painstakingly crafted into poems that tell the truth, poems that insist on residing within the reader, poems by a poet who seeks and achieves the ability to be a vehicle for those who may not otherwise speak." —Web Del Sol Review of Books
"Although her work is often spare and simple, it is always beautifully and painstakingly crafted into poems that tell the truth, poems that insist on residing within the reader, poems by a poet who seeks and achieves the ability to be a vehicle for those who may not otherwise speak." —Web Del Sol Review of Books
132 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
50 people are currently reading
2695 people want to read
About the author
Lucille Clifton
82 books435 followersLucille Clifton was an American poet, writer, and educator from New York. Common topics in her poetry include the celebration of her African American heritage, and feminist themes, with particular emphasis on the female body.
She was the first person in her family to finish high school and attend college. She started Howard University on scholarship as a drama major but lost the scholarship two years later.
Thus began her writing career.
Good Times, her first book of poems, was published in 1969. She has since been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and has been honored as Maryland's Poet Laureate.
Ms. Clifton's foray into writing for children began with Some of the Days of Everett Anderson, published in 1970.
In 1976, Generations: A Memoir was published. In 2000, she won the National Book Award for Poetry, for her work "Poems Seven".
From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College of Maryland. From 1995 to 1999, she was a visiting professor at Columbia University. In 2006, she was a fellow at Dartmouth College.
Clifton received the Robert Frost Medal for lifetime achievement posthumously, from the Poetry Society of America.
She was the first person in her family to finish high school and attend college. She started Howard University on scholarship as a drama major but lost the scholarship two years later.
Thus began her writing career.
Good Times, her first book of poems, was published in 1969. She has since been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and has been honored as Maryland's Poet Laureate.
Ms. Clifton's foray into writing for children began with Some of the Days of Everett Anderson, published in 1970.
In 1976, Generations: A Memoir was published. In 2000, she won the National Book Award for Poetry, for her work "Poems Seven".
From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College of Maryland. From 1995 to 1999, she was a visiting professor at Columbia University. In 2006, she was a fellow at Dartmouth College.
Clifton received the Robert Frost Medal for lifetime achievement posthumously, from the Poetry Society of America.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
February 21, 2021
It's over a year since I discovered Lucille Clifton's work through The Book of Light which was a marvelous book of poetry, some of the poems from that book collected in this one, and continuing to read her words feels like salving. This collection spanning three decades is brilliant. A lot of the poems here deal with illness, loss and grief, others in celebration of life and its mysteries, a good collection of poems from a poet that's become a favourite.
April 22, 2025
I just love how Clifton has mastered the Volta. Some I loved. A lot of Jesus ones went over my head fully.
July 10, 2010
I'm sorry to say that I was not familiar with Lucille Clifton's work. Her poetry really blew my mind. Such depth of consciousness concerning common details of life. Although we hate to admit how often many of these events occur. Clifton's poetry makes one think deeply about life events that have not sunk into our minds thoroughly.
August 17, 2023
4 stars ⭐️
I enjoyed the poems revising the creation of Adam and Eve told from a female perspective. With “eve’s version” we get to see female sensuality and a woman holding the power, eating the forbidden fruit and owning it. “Eve thinking” we see it is Eve who helps Adam find his voice and “tongue” as he searches for the language:
“but he is slow. tonight as he sleeps i will whisper into his mouth our names.”
I enjoyed “wishes for sons” that explored womanhood and the urge for boys to understand the female experience and be able to grow into men who can empathize.
“i wish them cramps. i wish them a strange town and the last tampon. i wish them no 7-11.”
“blessing the boats” which explores different transitions in life and the uncertainty of a journey you’re not sure where you’ll end up. The imagery is inviting: “open your eyes to water. water waving forever. and may you in your innocence sail through this to that.”
I love that the last line is purposefully vague. Not necessarily sailing to something better or worse but something different. A new experience.
I enjoyed the poems revising the creation of Adam and Eve told from a female perspective. With “eve’s version” we get to see female sensuality and a woman holding the power, eating the forbidden fruit and owning it. “Eve thinking” we see it is Eve who helps Adam find his voice and “tongue” as he searches for the language:
“but he is slow. tonight as he sleeps i will whisper into his mouth our names.”
I enjoyed “wishes for sons” that explored womanhood and the urge for boys to understand the female experience and be able to grow into men who can empathize.
“i wish them cramps. i wish them a strange town and the last tampon. i wish them no 7-11.”
“blessing the boats” which explores different transitions in life and the uncertainty of a journey you’re not sure where you’ll end up. The imagery is inviting: “open your eyes to water. water waving forever. and may you in your innocence sail through this to that.”
I love that the last line is purposefully vague. Not necessarily sailing to something better or worse but something different. A new experience.
January 30, 2020
“in my dream
a house is burning.
something crawls out of the fire
cleansed and purified.
in my dream i call it light.”
a house is burning.
something crawls out of the fire
cleansed and purified.
in my dream i call it light.”
February 21, 2010
Lucille Clifton: Ave Atque Vale
Lucille Clifton is gone but her legacy of simple, honestly felt, seemingly spontaneously written poems about the live of ordinary people who become icons almost by accident will live on, especially through the collection of her works in this award winning volume BLESSING THE BOATS: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS 1988-2000. Her powers of observation of those aspects of our society that are usually shuttered by embarrassment are here made crystalline. She dares to share her own bruised life but rises above the incidents of horror to make us feel the beauty of living because of her courage. While there are many beautifully written poems in this excellent collection, a National Book Award winner, one particularly lingers in the minds of those who read it. ' jasper texas 1998' is dedicated to James Byrd, Jr. - a black man chained to a pickup by three white men and dragged until he was decapitated - and Clifton's elegy is as follows:
jasper texas 1998
i am a man's head hunched in the road.
i was chosen to speak by the members
of my body. the arm as it pulled away
pointed toward me, the hand opened once
and was gone.
why and why and why
should i call a white man brother?
who is the human in this place,
the thing that is dragged or the dragger?
what does my daughter say?
the sun is a blister overhead.
if i were alive i could not bear it.
the townsfolk sing we shall overcome
while hope bleeds slowly from my mouth
into the dirt that covers us all.
i am done with this dust. i am done.
Poetry of this power changes lives, changes attitudes, changes mankind. Lucille Clifton will be missed in body but her truth seeking spirit will be always with us.
Grady Harp
Lucille Clifton is gone but her legacy of simple, honestly felt, seemingly spontaneously written poems about the live of ordinary people who become icons almost by accident will live on, especially through the collection of her works in this award winning volume BLESSING THE BOATS: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS 1988-2000. Her powers of observation of those aspects of our society that are usually shuttered by embarrassment are here made crystalline. She dares to share her own bruised life but rises above the incidents of horror to make us feel the beauty of living because of her courage. While there are many beautifully written poems in this excellent collection, a National Book Award winner, one particularly lingers in the minds of those who read it. ' jasper texas 1998' is dedicated to James Byrd, Jr. - a black man chained to a pickup by three white men and dragged until he was decapitated - and Clifton's elegy is as follows:
jasper texas 1998
i am a man's head hunched in the road.
i was chosen to speak by the members
of my body. the arm as it pulled away
pointed toward me, the hand opened once
and was gone.
why and why and why
should i call a white man brother?
who is the human in this place,
the thing that is dragged or the dragger?
what does my daughter say?
the sun is a blister overhead.
if i were alive i could not bear it.
the townsfolk sing we shall overcome
while hope bleeds slowly from my mouth
into the dirt that covers us all.
i am done with this dust. i am done.
Poetry of this power changes lives, changes attitudes, changes mankind. Lucille Clifton will be missed in body but her truth seeking spirit will be always with us.
Grady Harp
August 31, 2012
poet saint.
blessing the boats
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that
blessing the boats
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that
May 16, 2021
Lucille Clifton is clearly brilliant, and I wanted to love all of these, but many didn’t resonate with me. I think timing is everything with me and poetry, so I’ll be sure to revisit her again.
I very much like her style. It can be devastating, but also simple and playful; raw and unfiltered. It feels like a unique approach I haven’t encountered before.
Here are two I really liked.
note, passed to superman
sweet jesus, superman,
if i had seen you
dressed in your blue suit
i would have known you.
maybe that choirboy clark
can stand around
listening to stories
but not you, not with
metropolis to save
and every crook in town
filthy with kryptonite.
lord, man of steel,
i understand the cape,
the leggings, the whole
ball of wax.
you can trust me,
there is no planet stranger
than the one i’m from.
hag riding
why
is what i ask myself
maybe it is the afrikan in me
still trying to get home
after all these years
but when i wake to the heat of morning
galloping down the highway of my life
something hopeful rises in me
rises and runs me out into the road
and i lob my fierce thigh high
over the rump of the day and honey
i ride i ride
I very much like her style. It can be devastating, but also simple and playful; raw and unfiltered. It feels like a unique approach I haven’t encountered before.
Here are two I really liked.
note, passed to superman
sweet jesus, superman,
if i had seen you
dressed in your blue suit
i would have known you.
maybe that choirboy clark
can stand around
listening to stories
but not you, not with
metropolis to save
and every crook in town
filthy with kryptonite.
lord, man of steel,
i understand the cape,
the leggings, the whole
ball of wax.
you can trust me,
there is no planet stranger
than the one i’m from.
hag riding
why
is what i ask myself
maybe it is the afrikan in me
still trying to get home
after all these years
but when i wake to the heat of morning
galloping down the highway of my life
something hopeful rises in me
rises and runs me out into the road
and i lob my fierce thigh high
over the rump of the day and honey
i ride i ride
August 10, 2015
As the 2004 inscription reminds me, I have owned this collection for quite some time. Other than the periodical flip-through, however, I'd never read through much of it until now. I'm so glad it finally made its way off of my shelves and into my hands. Clifton's poems are economic, but not without power. This collection contains selected poems from prior collections next, quilting, the book of light, and The Terrible Stories, as well as several new poems. She engages themes like pain, race, the body, and dreams with language that is purposeful and precise.
Clifton weaves stories and themes unexpectedly, as in the poem, "white lady," a slang term for cocaine. The poem handles drug addiction and racial discrimination simultaneously in stanzas like, "white lady / you have chained our sons / in the basement / of the big house / white lady / you have walked our daughters / out into the streets / white lady / what do we have to pay / to repossess our children / white lady / what do we have to owe / to own our own at last" (60-61).
I like that Clifton does not shy from a singular theme until she writes it out. For example, her work with Adam and Eve, most prevalent in quilting, remains present throughout several of the collections. In The Terrible Stories, she becomes enticed by a fox at her window and writes seven poems about the interaction. At first I was a bit put off by the repetition of this image in poems packed like sardines in this particular collection. I soon discovered, however, that each of the poems offers something new, that she uses the fox as a way to guide readers through feelings of fear, to understanding, to admiration of this creature in a way that one poem may not have been able to do.
It would be remiss of me not to spend a moment discussing Clifton's work with the body. Perhaps my favorite of this collection, "amazons," introduces a group of Amazon women, "each cupping one hand around / her remaining breast" (116). As with "white lady," this poem is more than it at first seems; as the poem progresses, the group of Amazon women become the speaker's sisters and Audre Lorde, helping her through a breast cancer diagnosis. In the poem, "dialysis," Clifton addresses frustration and anger with the body's failure: "after the cancer the body refused / to lose any more. even the poisons / were claimed and kept" (16).
I was given this collection on my 16th birthday and I wish I had read it then, when I was growing into a woman. Clifton's poems are honest and she has the unique ability to find the exact words to express deeply human sentiments without waxing on unnecessarily. I'm impressed by her creativity, her innovation with allegory, and the strength she exhibits in her work. I definitely plan to seek it out more.
Clifton weaves stories and themes unexpectedly, as in the poem, "white lady," a slang term for cocaine. The poem handles drug addiction and racial discrimination simultaneously in stanzas like, "white lady / you have chained our sons / in the basement / of the big house / white lady / you have walked our daughters / out into the streets / white lady / what do we have to pay / to repossess our children / white lady / what do we have to owe / to own our own at last" (60-61).
I like that Clifton does not shy from a singular theme until she writes it out. For example, her work with Adam and Eve, most prevalent in quilting, remains present throughout several of the collections. In The Terrible Stories, she becomes enticed by a fox at her window and writes seven poems about the interaction. At first I was a bit put off by the repetition of this image in poems packed like sardines in this particular collection. I soon discovered, however, that each of the poems offers something new, that she uses the fox as a way to guide readers through feelings of fear, to understanding, to admiration of this creature in a way that one poem may not have been able to do.
It would be remiss of me not to spend a moment discussing Clifton's work with the body. Perhaps my favorite of this collection, "amazons," introduces a group of Amazon women, "each cupping one hand around / her remaining breast" (116). As with "white lady," this poem is more than it at first seems; as the poem progresses, the group of Amazon women become the speaker's sisters and Audre Lorde, helping her through a breast cancer diagnosis. In the poem, "dialysis," Clifton addresses frustration and anger with the body's failure: "after the cancer the body refused / to lose any more. even the poisons / were claimed and kept" (16).
I was given this collection on my 16th birthday and I wish I had read it then, when I was growing into a woman. Clifton's poems are honest and she has the unique ability to find the exact words to express deeply human sentiments without waxing on unnecessarily. I'm impressed by her creativity, her innovation with allegory, and the strength she exhibits in her work. I definitely plan to seek it out more.
May 29, 2010
These are not the poems of a benevolent universe; they are full of the sharp edges of real, hard lives.
Clifton sees the dark side of Biblical and mythological narratives reflected in her experience and that of those she cares about. She takes stories, true and symbolic, and with clear and incisive observations also honors, celebrates, blesses, laughs, and supports.
And dreams. The dream poems were among my favorites, and even those not directly tied to dreams often have a dream-like quality.
Why some people be mad at me sometimes
they ask me to remember
but they want me to remember
their memories
and i keep on remembering
mine
There is still plenty of room within Clifton's words for the reflection of our experiences too.
Clifton sees the dark side of Biblical and mythological narratives reflected in her experience and that of those she cares about. She takes stories, true and symbolic, and with clear and incisive observations also honors, celebrates, blesses, laughs, and supports.
And dreams. The dream poems were among my favorites, and even those not directly tied to dreams often have a dream-like quality.
Why some people be mad at me sometimes
they ask me to remember
but they want me to remember
their memories
and i keep on remembering
mine
There is still plenty of room within Clifton's words for the reflection of our experiences too.
November 11, 2024
I remember loving the few Lucille Clifton poems I’d read anthologized in college so I picked up this random collection I found and finally got around to reading it after a few years of it sitting on the shelf.
Having only that little experience with Clifton’s work, I was surprised by the depth and emotional rawness in this collection. I love the recurring themes and imagery woven throughout the selected works.
Having only that little experience with Clifton’s work, I was surprised by the depth and emotional rawness in this collection. I love the recurring themes and imagery woven throughout the selected works.
December 27, 2023
Deceptively simple, succinct verses that pack a huge punch.
CW- child abuse (a fair bit of that). POV of survivor. Not all poems are that though. There's a fair bit of religion, sex and medical issues in there.
CW- child abuse (a fair bit of that). POV of survivor. Not all poems are that though. There's a fair bit of religion, sex and medical issues in there.
May 1, 2025
I loved Clifton's sparse and precise word choices and poetic sensibilities.
April 29, 2025
Hard to rate...I think the older poems worked better for me than the newer ones. Overall these are simple poems but I think there's a lot more to them, so, of course, a re-read or two would be great.
Read
September 9, 2023(I'm not rating this book because I feel it's beyond my rating. I just want to share some thoughts and encourage y'all to read her).
It was an emotional labour to read this one. Partly because I can deeply relate to some of the poems. Her voice is a strong voice of women. But even more, because to some of them I'll never be able to relate (for example because I happened to be born white). It was deeply harrowing to experience her life through the poems. Her words cut deep.
I even started to translate some - it's freakin hard. She's super sparesome with words, I need all my creativity to find such condensed, layered Hungarian equivalents.
Why don't we read much more Lucille Clifton here in Europe tho?
It was an emotional labour to read this one. Partly because I can deeply relate to some of the poems. Her voice is a strong voice of women. But even more, because to some of them I'll never be able to relate (for example because I happened to be born white). It was deeply harrowing to experience her life through the poems. Her words cut deep.
I even started to translate some - it's freakin hard. She's super sparesome with words, I need all my creativity to find such condensed, layered Hungarian equivalents.
Why don't we read much more Lucille Clifton here in Europe tho?
February 6, 2022
Clifton's poems highlight how few words can be artfully sequenced together to create worlds of meaning. Many of her poems braid together past, present and future, highlighting how she situates herself as an individual within a powerful ancestral lineage. Her poems about domestic labour, war, menstruation and the history of slavery are particularly resonant, though her work also about dailiness and the aching of existence are pertinent too. I'm not very well-read in poetry at all and this book felt like a great overview of her decades-spanning body of work. A solid introduction to one of the leading poets of our times.
June 21, 2017
"who/ among us can imagine ourselves/ unimagined? who// among us can speak with so fragile/ tongue and remain proud?" A stunning, utterly moving investigation of the body and the (racist) society with its many stories and mythologies, rendered in a spare, supremely effective style that is Lucille Clifton's alone.
April 12, 2019
Beautiful, harrowing, bitter poetry that represents both hope and hopelessness for humanity. Some of these poems will burn into my memory, especially "jasper texas 1998" and "alabama 9/15/63", two poems that are about the murders of innocent African Americans. Some poems deal with love, feminism, and pessimism; but they will all linger and await to be re-read.
July 18, 2007
Taut and rich poetry.
December 15, 2007
I love Lucille Clifton. I had the great honor of working with Lucille at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. She is truly the "poem doctor" and a wonderful poet herself.
December 23, 2022
2.5
Wish I liked this more. I've come across Lucille Clifton in snippets (other authors using choice lines as epigraphs, poets using her as a clear reference as acknowledged in their acknowledgements, etc.), and some of her lines come through with the wit I liked in those bits and pieces. But, honestly, this did very little for me. The new poems were the best, the selected ranged from entirely unappealing to okay, and glimmers of hope came as some individual poems rang better in my head. Not much to say.
Wish I liked this more. I've come across Lucille Clifton in snippets (other authors using choice lines as epigraphs, poets using her as a clear reference as acknowledged in their acknowledgements, etc.), and some of her lines come through with the wit I liked in those bits and pieces. But, honestly, this did very little for me. The new poems were the best, the selected ranged from entirely unappealing to okay, and glimmers of hope came as some individual poems rang better in my head. Not much to say.
January 1, 2020
There are several delighting parts of this collection but I’m especially amazed by the ability of Lucille Clifton to write about the divine, the dream and the metaphysical in the manner that she does here.
At the end of the series she talks about being mocked by family for her abilities to draw poetry from/about the afterlife and convert it into the present.
Read it out loud. Read all of it out loud.
At the end of the series she talks about being mocked by family for her abilities to draw poetry from/about the afterlife and convert it into the present.
Read it out loud. Read all of it out loud.
December 26, 2020
I truly have no idea how it took me this long to discover Clifton. Her works rival her contemporaries in a way that is both universal and unique. This collection touches on a lot of her work, though the entire time I wish I had each and every book featured here in my hands, in full. What a powerful introduction--I look forward to the next and the next and the next.
August 8, 2025
I’m not a poetry fan, I mainly read poems for challenges or bookclubs, so take everything with a grain of salt. Some of these were essentially a different language, others were funny, and a few thought provoking. As far as poetry goes I felt like I understood it better than others I’ve read but I still remain not a fan overall.
April 2, 2020
staggeringly powerful, this collection of poems rocked my world for an entire year. it is a gift and a blessing to encounter such a raw and ancient power.
June 9, 2025
Not every poem resonates for me, but many do, and some are extraordinary. What a gift.
September 12, 2021
I’d read some Lucille Clifton poems through the years, but never this many at once. Her poetry is very honest and can be quite dark. I think I’ll come back to her again when I’m in the right mindset.
February 10, 2024
I didn’t know about this marvelous poet until I saw one of her poems quoted in another poet’s essays. Glad I found her—while not all of the poems in this collection fed my hunger, the ones that did brought light into some neglected corners of my mind.
October 12, 2020
These poems left an impression on my heart.
August 18, 2023
lazarus
first day
i rose from stiffening
into a pin of light
and a voice calling
"Lazarus, this way"
and i floated or rather
swam in a river of sound
toward what seemed to be
forever i was almost
almost there when i heard
behind me
"Lazarus, come forth" and
i found myself twisting
in the light for this
is the miracle, mary martha;
at my head and at my feet
singing my name
was the same voice
As usual, I am late to the party: Lucille Clifton is a phenomenal poet I missed until now. I enjoy her sparse free-verse and her unique perspective and, most importantly, her authoritative voice. These poems possess a strong voice which examines issues like femininity, religion, and race in a harsh yet loving embrace. Clifton is a poetic national treasure.
memory
ask me to tell how it feels
remembering your mother's face
turned to water under the white words
of the man at the shoe store. ask me,
though she tells it better than i do,
not because of her charm
but because it never happened
she says,
no bully salesman swaggering,
no rage, no shame, none of it
ever happened.
i only remember buying you
your first grown up shoes
she smiles. ask me
how it feels.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews