false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg 454432 2 <p>Lucille Clifton's poetry carries her deep concerns for the world's children, the stratification of American society, those people lost or forgotten amid the crushing race of Western materialism and technology. In turns sad, troubled and angry, her voice has always been one of great empathy, knowing, as she says, "the only mercy is memory." In this, her 12th book of poetry, the National Book Award-winner speaks to the tenuous relationship between mothers and daughters, the debilitating power of cancer, the open wound of racial prejudice, the redemptive gift of story-telling. "September Song," a sequence of seven poems, featured on National Public Radio, presents a modern-day Orpheus who, through her grief, attempts to heart-intelligently respond to the events of September 11th. The last sequence of poems-a tightly-woven fabric of caveats and prayers-was initially written in the 1970s, then revised and reshaped in the last few years.</p><p><b>Lucille Clifton</b> is an award-winning poet, fiction writer and author of children's books. Her most recent poetry book, <i>Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1969â&#128;&#147;1999</i> (BOA), won the 2000 National Book Award for Poetry. Two of Clifton's BOA poetry collections, <i>Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969â&#128;&#147;1980</i> and <i>Next: New Poems</i>, were chosen as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, while Clifton's <i>The Terrible Stories</i> (BOA) was a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award. Clifton has received fellowships from the NEA, an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Shelley Memorial Prize and the Charity Randall Citation. She is a Distinguished Professor of Humanities as St. Mary's College in Maryland. She was appointed a Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and elected as Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets in 1999. She lives in Columbia, MD.</p> 443018 1 9 2004 Mercy (American Poets Continuum) total:52|5:1|4:0|3:3|2:1|1:0| 52 203 71 6 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 5 0 false Mon Aug 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 16:58:35 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 17:13:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 3 0 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 18 16:09:44 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 20 21:55:06 -0700 2007
The last third, "the message from the Ones (received in the late 70s)," is tiresomely oracular. There's little imagery, just pronouncements...more...]]> 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 0 0 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 17:07:05 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 17:10:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 2 0 false Mon Sep 07 12:33:34 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 06 16:18:07 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 07 12:33:34 -0700 2009 2 Going on 3 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 4 0 false Fri Jul 25 10:11:29 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 10:12:11 -0700 2008 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 5 0 false Sat Jan 12 10:15:48 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 12 10:15:59 -0800 2008 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 3 0 false Wed Dec 02 07:52:33 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 02 07:52:33 -0800 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 0 0 false Tue Dec 01 19:59:10 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 01 19:59:10 -0800 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 3 0 false Sun Nov 29 11:16:58 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 29 11:16:58 -0800 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 3 0 false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Nov 04 03:56:04 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 03:56:04 -0800 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 5 0 false Tue Oct 20 21:41:37 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 21:41:45 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 2 0 false Tue Oct 13 17:43:46 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 17:43:46 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 3 0 false Thu Sep 10 17:54:28 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 17:54:28 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 0 0 false Sun Aug 30 09:06:48 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 09:06:50 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 3 0 false Thu Aug 20 13:04:32 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 13:04:32 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 5 0 false Mon Aug 17 17:52:37 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 17:52:37 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 4 0 false Tue Aug 04 19:22:25 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 19:22:25 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 5 0 false Wed Jul 08 17:24:53 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 17:25:08 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 0 0 false Mon Jun 29 23:53:07 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 23:53:07 -0700 2009 454432 1929918550 9781929918553 52 6 3.90 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919924m/454432.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454432.Mercy 3 0 false Fri Jun 05 15:10:48 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 15:10:48 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=454432