Revolutionary Petunias Quotes

“I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.”
― Alice Walker, Revolutionary Petunias: A Collection of Witty and Pungent Poems on Love, Loss, and Hope

“Rage

In me there is a rage to defy
the order of the stars
despite their pretty patterns.
To see if Gods who hold forth now
on human thrones
can will away my lust
to dare
and press to order the anarchy
I would serve.

The silence between your words
rams into me
like a sword.”
― Alice Walker, Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems

“Will

It does not impress me that I have
a mind.
Chance amuses me.
Coincidence makes me laugh
out loud.
Fate weighs me down
too heavy.

When I can't bear not seeing
you another second,
I send out my
will;
when it brings us face to
face, there's an invisible power
I respect!”
― Alice Walker, Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems

“ Thief

I wish to own only the warmth
of your skin
the sound your thoughts make
reverberating off the coldness
of my loss
to love you purely
as I love trees and
the quiet sheens and
colors
of my house
my heart is full
of charity
of fair play
although on other occasions
it has been acknowledged
I am a thief.”
― Alice Walker, Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems

“Be Nobody's Darling

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.

Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.

Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone
(Uncool)
Or line the crowded
River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.

Make a merry gathering
On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.”
― Alice Walker, Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems