The specific poems I particularly liked:
I'm Not Lonely
For Tommy
Alone
Master Charge: Blues
Legacies
Winter Poem
A Certain Peace
[Untitled] (page 163. "There is a hunger")
Poem (page 181 thinning hair)
The Way I Feel
Introspection
Choices
The Beep Beep Poem
Space
Make Up
Winter
Being and Nothingness
That Day
Charting the Night Winds
The Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
Flying Underground (not a fan of the ellipses poems except this one)
Resignation
Wild Flowers
But Since You Finally Asked ( )

Andrew bought this lovely book for me for Christmas one year. Such an overwhelming block of Nikki all at once! I really must read this again, but slower. Maybe one collection at a time so that they might be more distinct in my mind. ( )

Professor Giovanni, enough said! ( )

Nikki has a wonderful way with words!! ( )

What I found fascinating about this work is that you can truly see Giovanni's growth as a poet, not only in voice and strength of language, but in topics of choice. Because of that alone, I'd say it's worth the read for any aspiring poet (or even writer in general). From solely a reader's perspective, my feelings are a bit more mixed. Some of her simpler poems here feel more like mini-essays or brainstorms, and less finished than what I generally prefer. Yet, there are those poems (and quite a few of them) that beg for rereading, that I'll go back to again and again. And there are those which I've taught (most notably "Adulthood" and "Nikki-Rosa") which first drew me in, and which I've seen engage students and draw forth discussion over and over again. Lastly, and most surprisin on a personal note, I discovered I very much enjoy her few love poems. It seems that the poets who rarely write love poems write them most strikingly--perhaps because they're more aware of the dangers--but regardless, Giovanni's stand out. In closing, I recommend this to readers and perhaps especially writers of poetry, definately Teachers of poetry--there will admittedly be poems here you think nothing of, but there will be others that make this a worthwhile journey, whoever you are. ( )