One Last Word Quotes

“Son, don't mind what's missing. Count allthat's free: friendship, laughter, all thelove your heart can carry, and time -- count time.”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“Hard to explain tidals
to one who’s never gotten her feet wet,”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“The evening news never spares us. Tune in and we
hear: if you’re a boy and you’re black, you live
with a target on your back. We each take it in and
shiver, one sharp-bladed question hanging overhead: how
long do I get to walk this earth? The smell of death is too intense,
and so we bury the thought, because the future is
ours, right? We get to choose? Well, we choose life.”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“God knew how hard and well he’d fought, The noble deeds his hands had wrought; God heard the deep sighs of his breast, He heard—and gave the warrior rest. And shall we weep and say ’tis night, When he has found eternal light?”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“Why look to writers of the Harlem Renaissance for wisdom and strength in difficult times? Because these writers, so recently removed from slavery and a Jim Crow South, survived much. They still have much to teach us regarding toughness, survival, and a positive attitude.”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“FOR A POET by Countee Cullen I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth, And laid them away in a box of gold; Where long will cling the lips of the moth, I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth; I hide no hate; I am not even wroth Who found earth’s breath so keen and cold; I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth, And laid them away in a box of gold.”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“They tell me I should squeeze my hopes
into a miniature box of their design. But I’m not so
inclined.”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“CRUCIBLE OF CHAMPIONS by Nikki Grimes JAMAR The evening news never spares us. Tune in and we
hear: if you’re a boy and you’re black, you live
with a target on your back. We each take it in and
shiver, one sharp-bladed question hanging overhead: how
long do I get to walk this earth? The smell of death is too intense,
and so we bury the thought, because the future is
ours, right? We get to choose? Well, we choose life.”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

“STORM ENDING by Jean Toomer Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads, Great, hollow, bell-like flowers, Rumbling in the wind, Stretching clappers to strike our ears . . . Full-lipped flowers Bitten by the sun Bleeding rain Dripping rain like golden honey— And the sweet earth flying from the thunder.”
― Nikki Grimes, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance