Lucille Clifton is a widely celebrated and respected poet, having written many poetry collections and children’s books—some of which were nominated and won awards including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. She was born in 1936 and wrote her work through tumultuous times such as the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement while also tackling themes such as the black experience, feminism, body acceptance, loss and grief, women’s survival, juvenile violence, and so much more. Pouring over her poetry collections reveals that she quite possibly left no topic unaddressed. The magic of Clifton though was not her ability to write about real life happenings, but in the way she captured in such short bursts of poems, the connectivity that is the human experience we all share while honoring the truth of pain and at the same time, empathically celebrating the wholeness of life on the planet with both desperate sorrow and lighthearted joy. Decades after she began writing, the world—as messy as ever—is still in need of her message; both women and minorities still need her comforting validation, sharp boldness and gentle softness.
Critics have widely studied Clifton’s work from various angles including her celebratory tone, her offering of hope through her poetry, and even her mystical beliefs sprinkled throughout her work. She is overwhelmingly acclaimed for her short poems that pack a quick, impactful punch while still having the depth of human experience beneath their brevity. Her use of “mascan” imagery which acts as a sort of connective energy to the whole of black experience which has been expanded through the decades as a concept known today as “black joy”. These mascan images, which are not really images most of the time, but rather words in her poetry that illicit a response of understanding—a shared human experience conveyed by her poetry lines that create a large collective emotional response among a group of people. In the final project, I will explore Clifton’s connective energy and masterful ability to impact readers with her use of mascan images. Critics have widely studied her celebratory language and the way she honors the truth in experience. However, I hope to look more closely at how the use of mascan images can impact healing by highlighting common suffering in humanity, but more specifically women and minority groups.
Lucille Clifton’s poems honor life in a way that is universally understood even when the reader has not had the same experiences of black life. The toxic positivity that is sometimes pushed on society seems to negate one’s truths and real experiences, but Clifton can honor truths and pain and horror and love while also gently allowing her readers to feel okay with celebrating life in the meantime. While still honoring a more personal experience of black life, studying her poetry truly captures a collective experience which I believe can bring healing through connection.
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