Poem of the Day

Start each day with a poem delivered to your inbox! Poems are selected by Poetry Foundation editors and guests to correspond with historic events, poet anniversaries, and more from the 47,000+ poem archive.

Dreams

By Nikki Giovanni

in my younger years
before i learned
black people aren’t
suppose to dream
i wanted to be
a raelet
and say “dr o wn d in my youn tears”
or “tal kin bout tal kin bout”
or marjorie hendricks and grind   
all up against the mic
and scream
“baaaaaby nightandday   
baaaaaby nightandday”
then as i grew and matured
i became more sensible   
and decided i would   
settle down
and just become
a sweet inspiration

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A note from the editor:

Today is World Humanitarian Day. Read poems by Nikki Giovanni and other inspiring people in our collection of Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment.

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