The Black Unicorn Quotes

“and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“A Litany for Survival

For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children's mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours:

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother's milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.

And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“...may I never lose that terror that keeps me brave”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“I have died too many deaths that were not mine.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“I have been woman for a long time beware my smile I am treacherous with old magic”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“my body
writes into your flesh
the poem
you make of me.

"Recreation”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“see me now
your severed daughter
laughing our name into echo
all the world shall remember ”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“I am tired of writing memorials to black men
whom I was on the brink of knowing
weary like fig trees
weighted like a crepe myrtle
with all the black substance poured into earth
before earth is ready to bear.
I am tired of holy deaths
of the ulcerous illuminations the cerebral accidents
the psychology of the oppressed
where mental health is the ability
to repress
knowledge of the world’s cruelty.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“It has rained for five days
running
the world is
a round puddle
of sunless water
where small islands
are only beginning
to cope
a young boy
in my garden
is bailing out water
from his flower patch
when I ask him why
he tells me
young seeds that have not seen sun
forget
and drown easily.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“I am
the sun and moon and forever hungry
the sharpened edge
where day and night shall meet
and not be
one.

from “From the House of Yemanjá,”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“places do not change so much as what we seek in them”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“[…] your smile has been to war”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“As the light wanes I see what I thought I was anxious to surrender I am only willing to lend”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“The black unicorn was mistaken for a shadow or symbol and taken through a cold country where mist painted mockeries of my fury.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“Our labor has become
more important
than our silence.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“I did not recognize the shape of my own name.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“young seeds that have not seen sun forget and drown easily.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“Our labor has become more important than our silence.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“I am tired of writing memorials to black men
whom I was on the brink of knowing
weary like fig trees
weighted like a crepe myrtle
with all the black substance poured into earth
before earth is ready to bear.
I am tired of holy deaths
of the ulcerous illuminations the cerebral accidents
the psychology of the oppressed
where mental health is the ability
to repress
knowledge of the world's cruelty.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“Je te tiens par la main près du tas de compost
heureuse d'être en vie et encore
avec toi
nous parlons de choses ordinaires
soulagées
...
ta main
feu familier
quitte l'écorce du pommier
et me caresse le dos
mes épaules sont des feuilles mortes
qui rêvent d'être ramenées à la vie
par le feu
...
nos voix
semblent trop fortes pour ce petit jardin
trop hésitantes pour des femmes
tellement amoureuses
...”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

“I come like a woman who I am spreading out through nights laughter and promise and dark heat warming whatever I touch that is living consuming only what is already dead.”
― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems