Ego TrippingI was born in the congoI walked to the fertile crescent and built the sphinxI designed a pyramid so tough that a star that only glows every one hundred years falls into the center...

you see, my whole life is tied up to unhappiness it’s father cooking breakfast and me getting fat as a hog or having no food at all and father proving his incompetence again i wish...

i move on feeling and have learned to distrust those who don’t.

and everybody was happy that uncle lee was able to get that scholarship even though you wondered when you could do quadratic equations in your head why you had a basketball scholarship but you always...

The trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans. I say, the trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans.

I love you because no two snowflakes are alike, and it is possible, if you stand tippy-toe, to walk between the raindrops.

I appreciate my my sleep In sleep my conversation is witty My home is dusted My office work is up to date The dog is even well behaved And food is on the table on...

the world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by.

Style has a profound meaning to Black Americans. If we can’t drive, we will invent walks and the world will envy the dexterity of our feet. If we can’t have ham, we will boil chitterlings;...

and sometimes I sitdown at my typewriterand I thinknot of someonecause there isn’t anyoneto thinkabout and i wonderis it worth it

Mistakes are a fact of life: It is the response to the error that counts.

I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, you’d get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.

I had the privilege of interviewing Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space, who said she pursued a degree in physics and also became a medical doctor to keep her mind occupied.

Writers don’t write from experience, although many are hesitant to admit that they don’t. …If you wrote from experience, you’d get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.

You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts because if you write with someone looking over you shoulder, you’ll never write.

If you’re a writer, the answer to everything is yes.

Today I am 65 years old. I still look good. I appreciate and enjoy my age. A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change,...