Autobiographical poems.

Heritage (for Walter Leonard) -- Bread -- Bears in spring -- Baby West -- A poem for Joanne (all the time) -- Space: our frontier -- Nikki Giovanni: a look at the development of this small business -- A poem for Morris -- A haiku for Mars -- Ashley Bryan (on the joyous celebration of his ninetieth birthday) -- If I have to hospital -- Lincoln Heights sits -- Education early on -- Volleyball: a ballet (for #17) -- There is a school -- The past . . . the present . . . the future -- Konko in the rain (for and in debt to Kwame Alexander) -- Toure's feet -- Thirst -- For Ruby Dee -- Fisk: the class of 1964 -- Big Maybelle -- The tassel's worth the hassle: an introduction -- The fly on the wall -- Epicure (for Joe who cooks) -- On a snowy day (for Morgan who braved the weather) -- Black lives matter (not a hashtag) -- Step a little closer -- A poem (for Ethel Morgan Smith and Lucy) -- I married my mother -- We, too -- We marched (celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the sisterhood of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority) -- The diamond anniversary -- Rita Dove (at furious flower 2014) -- The old man of the mountain (for Charles Steger) -- Morning breakfast routines -- Poseidon hears his baby boy crying -- NYC (then & now) -- Surveillance -- Autumn soup (for President Timothy Sands) -- Hokie stone (for Tom Tillar) -- Introduction for Tim O'Brien -- Let's call it love -- L.E.A.P. for bridges (for Donna Maria Smith) -- Afeni (b. 22 January 1947-d. 2 May 2016) -- Remembering Maya -- A sincere apology -- Remembering Maya for Ebony magazine -- At times like these (for Maya Angelou) -- Summer storms -- Even as a little girl -- I play football (for Kevin Jones) -- The museum (at last).

"Poet, firebrand, mother, radical, healer, and sage, Nikki Giovanni has always been celebrated for her inspired and courageous voice. For decades, she has spoken out on the sensitive issues -- race and gender, violence and inequality -- that touch our national consciousness. As energetic and insightful as ever, Nikki Giovanni now offers us an intimate and affecting look at her personal history and the hidden corners of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents' marriage and her childhood. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and delight: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Giovanni also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou's death in 2014. An essential work for our times and a moving chronicle of an artist's life. A Good Cry is another classic from the prolific and perennially relevant Nikki Giovanni."--

A celebrated American poet offers an intimate, affecting and revealing look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart, taking us into her confidence as she ruminates on her life and the people who have helped shape her into the woman she has become.