Ntozake Shange · 80 pages
Rating: (26.5K votes)
“one thing I don’t need
is any more apologies
i got sorry greetin me at my front door
you can keep yrs
i don’t know what to do wit em
they don’t open doors
or bring the sun back
they don’t make me happy
or get a mornin paper
didn’t nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars
cuz a sorry.”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“without any assistance or guidance from you
i have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a day
i have been stood up four times
i've left 7 packages on yr doorstep
forty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i left
town so i cd send to you have been no help to me
on my job
you call at 3:00 in the mornin on weekdays
so i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to work
charmin charmin
but you are of no assistance
i want you to know
this waz an experiment
to see how selifsh i cd be
if i wd really carry on to snare a possible lover
if i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of another
if i cd stand not being wanted
when i wanted to be wanted
& i cannot
so
with no further assistance & no guidance from you
i am endin this affair
this note is attached to a plant
i've been waterin since the day i met you
you may water it
yr damn self”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“my spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“somebody/ anybody
sing a black girl's song
bring her out
to know herself
to know you
but sing her rhythms
carin/ struggle/ hard times
sing her song of life
she's been dead so long
closed in silence so long
she doesn't know the sound
of her own voice
her infinite beauty
she's half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
sing her sighs
sing the song of her possibilities
sing a righteous gospel
let her be born
let her be born
& handled warmly.”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“Ever since I realized there waz someone callt/
a colored girl an evil woman a bitch or a nag/
i been tryin not to be that & leave bitterness/
in somebody else's cup...”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“i usedta live in the world
really be in the world
free & sweet talkin
good mornin & thank-you & nice day
uh huh
i cant now
i cant be nice to nobody
nice is such a rip-off
regular beauty & a smile in the street
is just a set-up”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“And this is for Colored girls who have considered suicide, but are moving to the ends of their own rainbows.”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“i loved you on purpose
i was open on purpose
i still crave vulnerability & close talk
& i'm not even sorry bout you bein sorry
you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna
just dont give it to me
i cant use another sorry
next time
you should admit
you're mean/ low-down/ triflin/ & no count straight out
steada bein sorry alla the time
enjoy bein yrself”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“but bein alive & bein a woman & bein colored is a metaphysical
dilemma/ i havent conquered yet/ do you see the point
my spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender/ my love is too delicate to have thrown back on my face
my love is too delicate to have thrown back on my face
my love is too beautiful to have thrown back on my face
my love is too sanctified to have thrown back on my face
my love is too magic to have thrown back on my face
my love is too saturday nite to have thrown back on my face
my love is too complicated to have thrown back on my face
my love is too music to have thrown back on my face”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“i am really colored & really sad sometimes & you hurt me
more than i ever danced outta/ i am ready to die like a lily in the
desert/ & i cdnt let you in on it cuz i didnt know/ here
is what i have/ poems/ big thighs/ lil tits/ &
so much love/ will you take it from me this one time/
please this is for you”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“i'm only human, & inadequacy is what makes us human, & if we was perfect we wdnt have nothin to strive for, so you might as well go on & forgive me pretty baby, cause i'm sorry”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“What I want and I wanted to be unforgettable.”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“i done forgot all abt words
aint got no definitions”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“i survive on intimacy & tomorrow/”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“let her be born / let her be born / & handled warmly.”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“lady in blue one thing i dont need is any more apologies i got sorry greetin me at my front door you can keep yrs i dont know what to do wit em they dont open doors or bring the sun back they dont make me happy or get a mornin paper didnt nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars cuz a sorry i am simply tired of collectin ‘i didnt know i was so important to you’ i’m gonna haveta throw some away i cant get to the clothes in my closet for alla the sorries i’m gonna tack a sign to my door leave a message by the phone ‘if you called to say yr sorry call somebody else i dont use em anymore’ i”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“i want you to know
this waz an experiment
to see how selfish i cd be
if i wd really carry on to snare a possible lover
if i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of another
if i cd stand not being wanted
when i wanted to be wanted
& i cannot
so
with no further assistance & no guidance from you
i am endin this affair
this note is attached to a plant
i've been waterin since the day i met you
you may water it
yr damn self”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“lady in red but if you’ve been seen in public wit him danced one dance kissed him good-bye lightly lady in purple wit closed mouth lady in blue pressin charges will be as hard as keepin yr legs closed while five fools try to run a train on you lady in red these men friends of ours who smile nice stay employed and take us out to dinner lady in purple lock the door behind you lady in blue wit fist in face to fuck lady in red who make elaborate mediterranean dinners & let the art ensemble carry all ethical burdens while they invite a coupla friends over to have you are sufferin from latent rapist bravado & we are left wit the scars lady”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“Being alive and being a woman is all I got but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven't conquered yet”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
“Being alive and being a woman is all I got but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven't conquered yet.”
― Ntozake Shange, quote from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Ntozake Shange
Born place: in The United States
Born date October 18, 1948
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