Good Night, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning

by Alice Walker

Vivid poems of “breakdown and spiritual disarray.” Writing these, Walker says, “led me eventually into a larger understanding of the psyche, and of the world.” What finally marks this volume is the strong sense of change and, ultimately, of forgiveness as a part of growth.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Classics, The United States Of America

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

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

[Julie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you remember those little boxes of jujube candies that you used to be able to get at the movie theaters? Not the crap kind that they make now, but the ones that were made with actual jujube fruit that were so soft and chewy (and addictive)?

Well, reading this skinny collection of poems from Alice Walker was, to me, like slowly eating through a box of jujube candy.

It’s not that it was all fun and games. No, ma’am. No, sir. It was not. There is suffering here, for sure. Loads of it. A woman who has had a controversial (and failed) love affair with a married man, some imagined verse reenacting the lives of enslaved people, the deaths of loved ones.

This isn’t a Sunday walk in the park, but it’s life through the lens of this Black, female poet. And I do want to specify here: Black, female poet. I don’t typically like to classify poetry based on gender, sexuality, or skin color, but frankly, I have found that our Black, female poets, at least here in the States, are typically our finest.

Don’t get me wrong; I love me some Edna St. Vincent and Mary Oliver, and they’re both as white as the snow expected to arrive here on Sunday, but there is something about a person formed by a deep, abiding spiritual faith, a strong sense of community, and a knack for being able to survive with a Beast on her back that causes her work to sing out to the highest rafters.

My favorite female poets are, unapologetically: Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, Rita Dove and June Jordan. If you’ve missed them, you’re missing out.

I’m not as familiar with Alice Walker’s verse. After reading two of her collections, I’d say she reminds me a bit of both Marge Piercy and Audre Lorde, in that there’s quite a bit of political activism in her work. And, despite the importance of political activism, I’d personally rather read that in an essay, than in poetry. Just a personal preference.

But, this collection, published in 1979, before Ms. Walker’s far more famous novel THE COLOR PURPLE, gave me pause. I think it’s obvious to most of us who have read anything by Alice Walker that she’s a terrifically skilled technician, but I was taken in by the very rhythms of her sadness and her strength.

She becomes here, for me, the Black aunt I never had, and I felt wistful, remembering myself as the happy little girl I once was, downing a box of jujube candy, watching the old Pippi Longstocking movies at our local Wednesday matinee theater.

On Stripping Bark from Myself

because women are expected to keep silent about
their close escapes I will not keep silent
and if I am destroyed (naked tree!) someone will
please
mark the spot
where I fall and know I could not live
silent in my own lies
hearing their “how nice she is!”
whose adoration of the retouched image
I so despise.

No. I am finished with living
for what my mother believes
for what my brother and father defend
for what my lover elevates
for what my sister, blushing, denies or rushes
to embrace.

I find my own
small person
a standing self
against the world
an equality of wills
I finally understand.

Besides:

My struggle was always against
an inner darkness: I carry within myself
the only known keys
to my death—to unlock life, or close it shut
forever. A woman who loves wood grains, the color
yellow
and the sun. I am happy to fight
all outside murderers
as I see I must.

[leynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession time: I am afraid of reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I've watched the movie adaptation when I was way too young and remained traumatized since then by the brutality of the story. I'm not sure if I'm going to face my fear in 2018 but I, at least, wanted to check out something else by her, which is why I settled with Good Night, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning.

I didn't even know that Alice Walker was a poet as well as a novelist. This little collection of her words really spoke to me. Therefore, I'll be checking out the other three collections that were published by the Women's Press. Her poems are beautifully vivid, spiritual (but not in a preachy way!) and sensual. Walker reflects her relationships and her personal growth (and how it's intertwined with the long tradition of strong, naive, suffering women in her family).

I love a man who is not worth
my love.
Did this happen to your mother?
Did your grandmother wake up
for no good reason
in the middle of the night?

I thought love could be controlled.
It cannot.
Only behaviour can be controlled.
By biting your tongue purple
rather than speak.

It becomes very apparent how much Walker was influenced by Hurston. Not only did she write and dedicate poems about/to her. The theme of women overcoming their apprehensions about speaking up and putting themselves first threads itself through Walker's poetry. Her cry of 'Having no rights. No claims / to make, I could not even coherently / protest.' could have been uttered by Janie as well as she saw herself powerless against the overbearing nature of Joe Starks. Not even mentioning the fact that Walker actually wrote a poem about Janie Crawford and how she freed herself from her husbands who wanted to use her in different ways. Gotta love these women!

Reading Walker's poetry felt oddly intrusive. She didn't hold anything back. She layed herself bare in her poetry which is an incredibly brave thing to do. I haven't educated myself yet on Walker's biography but I'm definitely interested in researching more about her work and personal life. She seems to be such a fascinating woman!

At first I did not fight it.
I loved the suffering.
It was being alive!
[…]
It was my friend Gloria
who saved me. Whose glance said 'Really,
you've got to be kidding. Other
women have already done this
sort of suffering for you,
or so I thought.'

Funnily enough, I also just finished a collection of poetry by Audre Lorde (a contemporary of Walker's) and I was surprised at how similar their messages and ways of writing were, yet how I clicked more with Walker than I did with Lorde. Both women write in a very straight-forward style. They don't try to mask their messages with flowery words or overblown metaphors. Both of them stress the bond (Black) women share with each other and how our strength is build on sisterhood. I think I prefer Walker's words since she seems more humble and laid-back to me. Lorde was quite the intense woman (and she had every right to be but it pulled me out of her poetry at times).

Anyways, I liked the intertextual references in Walker's poetry and that she uplifted the voices of other Black female writers. Apart from Hurston, she also praised the work of Bessie Head, Nella Larson (two queens I definitely want to read from in 2018) and Lorraine Hansberry (a queen I'm already familiar with and love). She also worked her way through Black male pioneers of the 20th century like fellow poet Jean Toomer or Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

By the way, just like Lorde she appreciated the shift in Malcolm's ideology toward the end of his life where he distanced himself from the patriarchal attitude preached by the Nation of Islam and stressed the importance of independent women:

that you learned to prefer
all women free
and enjoyed a joke
and loved to laugh.

In conclusion, I was deeply moved by Walker's poems. The ways she dealt with her father's death, the terror and fear inflicted upon her by raising little black children in a world that had considered no place for them. Her anger and her suffering shone through her poetry and made me connect to her on a visceral level. All in all, I would recommend her poetry (even if it's a little unconventional in style since it's more conversational and colloquial).

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buzzword challenge 2023, November: “good”

Definitely better than Once, but it’s true that I feel similar in that most of the poems didn’t really speak to me or were memorable… On the high note, I adored the section “On stripping bark from myself” and the main poem of the same name, it had been a while since I read a poem and it instantly moved me to tears, but that one did it. I’d say it’s worth reading this collection just for that poem, but it’s true the poems are very different thematically so perhaps others will speak to others. Happy I read it because I’ll definitely go back to it. “I find my own small person a standing self against the world…”

[Samrat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really have a frame of reference to appreciate Walker's work. I am a poetry noob. But these were accessible and emotional and minimalist and just lovely. I was particularly moved by the first poems, aimed largely at men who have tried to shape or control her. It's amazing how much narrative and emotion she contains in so few words.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Malcolm" was lovely. Discovered today in the Little Free Library at the monastery. Seems right.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

This was the weakest of the three Alice Walker collections I have read; Walker's emotions are as powerful as always, but her lyricism frequently breaks down totally and the collection is saved by a few stellar poems in the middle of the text. These poems were written in the wake of the various assassinations of the 1960s and the failure of Walker's first marriage. Understandably, the treatment of love and relationships is harsh, often bitter, particularly in the poems of the first (and weakest) section "Confession". These poems scream and rant with high clarity and essentially no music, becoming impassioned complaints to an absent god of love: "The last time/I was afflicted by love/I murdered the man./But that was in an earlier century". Even at her most inventive, there is a sense of carelessness, a sense that the thoughts were thrown together--not in the way of a gift of inspiration (Coleridge's claim for "Kubla Khan"), but more like a frazzled cook making a sort of mulligatawny stew, elements added at random without planning or care, only a general hope that the overall effect will come through:

He said: Here is my soul.
I did not want his soul
but I am a Southerner
and very polite.
I took it lightly
as it was offered. But did not
chain it down.
I loved it and tended
it. I would hand it back
as good as new.

The anger of this collection, particularly the first section, was grating, and sometimes got in the way of the poetry, as with "The Abduction of Saints" (about martyrdom and manipulation and assassination), but there were a few fascinating and truly good poems. "Never Offer Your Heart to Someone Who Eats Hearts" was full of dark and powerful imagery of a cruel lover as a literal eater-of-hearts: "Your stewed, overseasoned/heart consumed/he will sop up your grief/with bread". "On Stripping Bark From Myself:" was a wise declaration of personhood:

No. I am finished with living
for what my mother believes
for what my brother and father defend
for what my lover elevates
for what my sister, blushing, denies or rushes
to embrace.

The title poem was a tender and musical poem of personal loss, but the best poems were "Early Losses: A Requiem" and "In Uganda An Early King", both of which see Walker transmute her personal and societal anger into stunning moments. In "Early Losses: A Requiem", she says,

To the child that's left
I offer a sound
without a promise
a clue
of what it means.

The sound itself is all.

and in "In Uganda An Early King" she laments mistreatment in the tale of a king who fed his wives until they were too fat to move because fat wives "showed him prosperous" These two longer poems were head and shoulders above the general quality of the book and none of the very short pieces or "poems-of-fragments" were strong, an unusual departure from the skill she showed with that sort of work in the earlier Once. She seems to be shifting away from the use of space to create meaning in her verse, and this book shows a marked departure from the effective use of the technique. On the occasions it is tried, she falls short, perhaps a function of the increasingly intense activist strain running through her poetry as we come to her third collection? It remains to be seen how this change will continue in or affect the next text.

[Annalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Walker's Goodnight Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning is a poetry collection that discusses a multitude of difficulties and experiences overcome. With the poems arranged in a chapter-like setup, each section of the book can be understood as part of a larger topic discussed over several texts.

Among these topics are love and heartache, as well as African heritage, and personas from the Civil Rights Movement. While Walker first writes about toxic relationships and the burden truth in Confession, she dedicates several poems to other writers in On Stripping Bark from Myself..., also providing information about the other authors by utilizing paratextual references in the footnotes. Meanwhile, Early Losses: a Requiem explores the history of African Americans, their oppression, and their uprising. In contrast, Facing the Way serves as an analysis of the changes brought about after the Civil Rights Movement, while, finally, Forgiveness seems to make way for a new generation.

[jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

“Without my melancholia I am lonely
dazed. Under the doctor’s care
I can remember nothing very long
that is sad.
Round and round I travel
enduring my comfort”

My favorite poem from this collection, “After the Shrink” illustrates the desperation to cling to one’s depression as if it is a cozy cloak or a warm blanket.

Walker’s poems provided a mournful, elegant atmosphere into her breakdown and emotional disorganization which ultimately leads her to a gracious state of forgiveness. However, I do not like the religious imagery and comparisons to Christ; they seemed irrelevant and cliche: questioning and changing the character of Christ to mold into the author’s literary needs. (I understand the Bible is the foundation of literary tradition). BUT O, how I hate secular biblical allusions!! That is why this collection shifted from 4 stars to 3.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this poetry collection through a reference in the book The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture by Courtney Thorsson. Walker's poetry, like her prose, centers the interior lives of women, their desires, their grief, their hopes. She moves between the agonies and ecstasies of love, to poems of political struggle, motherhood, and authorship. Each poem is concise, yet lyrical. Her section on heartbreak is so raw and unapologetic, speaking so openly of the pain of unrequited and lost love.
In such a short volume, Walker bears out her soul for us to see.

[Kim Hutson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. I teared-up three times, had goosebumps every other page and immediately told all of my friends they should read it. I now have a queue of people waiting to borrow my copy.
I picked it up for free from a community library thing and in the spirit of this, and the book itself, I shall keep it moving, and being loved.

[keondra freemyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

i mostly gravitate to alice walker's essays but was pleasantly surprised by how much this collection moved me. of all the poetry collections of hers that i've read, this one resonates the most. some favorites are the title poem, 'facing the way,' and 'talking to my grandmother who died poor'

[Kate Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated Alice Walker's vulnerable heartbreak in here, in poems titled things like "Never Offer Your Heart to Someone Who Eats Hearts" and "Did This Happen to Your Mother? Did Your Sister Throw Up a Lot?"

[Harry Palacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems a collection of anthemic eulogy that allows us to perceive the perception of true love as though meeting ones self which was parted and split from you eons ago: think greek symposium or rig veda lore and mythology

[Ellie Shively · Rating 5 out of 5]

good lord i love alice walker like none other

fav poems:
never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts
on stripping bark from myself
forgive me if my praises
facing the way
even as i hold you
“good night, willie lee, i’ll see you in the morning”

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read Walker’s poetry many times. My faves in this book are the title of the book “Good Night, Willie Lee…” and “Never Offer your Heart to Someone Who Eats Hearts.” These two pieces are straightforward and relatable. You can’t miss with Walker.

[K.E. Garland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid book of poetry. I don't like how she shaded DuBois' wife, though lol

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegant, clean, perfection.

[kelly]

love love loved. favorite sections were « confession » and « forgiveness »

[Kasandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of Walker's I hadn't read, so though it's a bit dated (a poem about streaking, a found poem from the NY Review of Books in 1972), I was still eager to read it. The poetry is a mix of personal/confessional love poetry, poems about family, and narrative and persona poems that tell stories and make reference to African heritage. There's a good balance here between the political and the personal, though many of the love poems and shorter personal poems fall flat, and feel like drafts instead of finished pieces. What I like about Walker's poetry is its honesty, simplicity, and straightforwardness, with an unflinching ability to portray both what's beautiful about herself and others, as well as what's ugly. These are very human poems, easily grasped and identified with, that serve to partially delineate the Black experience without feeling preachy or maudlin.

Some of my favorites:

Did This Happen to Your Mother? Did Your Sister Throw Up A Lot?

Janie Crawford

Early Losses: A Requiem

The Abduction of Saints

talking to my grandmother/who died poor

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poems explores issues of race, gender, insecurity, bitterness, heritage, loss, forgiveness, and love. The tone is raw, vulnerable, and powerful, both in language and form.

Favorites from the collection:
"Did This Happen to Your Mother? Did Your Sister Throw Up a Lot?"
"Never Offer Your Heart to Someone Who Eats Hearts"
"On Stripping Bark from Myself"
"facing the way"
"January 10, 1973"
"'Good Night, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning,'" which concludes:

"And it was then I knew that the healing
of all our wounds
is forgiveness
that permits a promise
of our return
at the end."

A full spectrum of emotional exploration, from the anger to the resolve.

[Yamo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Walker came to Lewis and Clark when I attended school there and read the title poem of this book - it made everyone cry. The poem is about her parent's relationship and the tenderness between them. Her mother used to always say to her Father "Goodnight Willie Lee, I'll see you in the morning". When her Mom lost her father and her Mom was having her final moments with his body, she leaned in to kiss her husband and said "Goodnight Willie Lee, see you in the morning".

[Sarai Lillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite poem in this book was "Never Offer Your Heart to someone who eats Hearts." The imagery in it is very interesting.

Alice Walker is always a favorite of mine. Her writing speaks in a way that a lot of things don't. It is hard to explain, really. I am a middle class white girl who feels Alice Walker's poetry in her soul.

Fun fact: The title comes from the last poem in the book.

[Syd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually a big fan of Alice Walker's poetry, but I liked this more than other collections I've read.

[reading woman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic composite of poems. Walker deploys skillful, albeit novelistic emplotments to illustrate story, meaning, and poetic precision.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and endearing book, filled with all kinds of truth about women, activists and relationships. Loved.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read books of poetry...it sure is fun having someone else's library at my disposal all summer. :)

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite line was from a poem comparing Jesus Christ, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.: "They gave us rebellion as pure love: a beginning of the new man."

[The Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Alice Walker's poetry.

She writes about feelings and emotions so well, but with such brevity.

I love how she celebrates strength and bravery throughout her work.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good poems by this amazing poet.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

excellent poetry