Nappy edges

by Ntozake Shange

In her first book since, "for colored girls...." Ntozake Shange establishes a new voice - passionate, whimsical, lyrical, daring. Listening to "how the words fall & leap / or if they dawdle sit down fanning themselves" we hear the song of her own life, the particular moments, the pains, the joy, the sharing poets make possible. as we demand to be heard / we want you to hear us. we come to you the way leroi jenkins comes or cecil taylor / or b.b. king. we come to you alone/ in the theater/ / in the story / & the poem/ like with billie holiday or betty carter/ we shd give you a moment that cannot be recreated, a specificity that cannot be confused/ our language shd let you know who's talkin, what we're talkin abt & how we cant stop saying this to you. some urgency accompanies the text. something important is going on. we are speaking. reaching for yr person/ we cannot hold it/ we dont wanna sell it/ we give you ourselves/ if you listen "A poem shd happen to you liek cold water or a kiss"