Acknowledgments |
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xvii | |
Introduction: The Nature of African American Poetry |
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xix | |
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3 | (3) |
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``The earth is a living thing'' |
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6 | (1) |
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``The Mountains of California: Part I'' |
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7 | (1) |
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``The Mountain Road Ends Here'' |
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8 | (1) |
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9 | (1) |
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10 | (2) |
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12 | (2) |
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14 | (2) |
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16 | (2) |
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18 | (1) |
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``The Night-Blooming Cereus'' |
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19 | (3) |
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22 | (1) |
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``Sweet Enough Ocean, Cotton'' |
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23 | (2) |
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25 | (1) |
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``A brown girl's nature poem: provincetown'' |
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26 | (1) |
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27 | (2) |
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29 | (1) |
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``Watching Blackbirds Turn to Ghosts'' |
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30 | (2) |
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``If Winter Comes, Can Spring?'' |
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32 | (1) |
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``31 words * prose poems [#12]'' |
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33 | (4) |
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Cycle Two: Nature, Be with Us |
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``We Are Not Strangers Here'' |
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37 | (2) |
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39 | (1) |
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40 | (1) |
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41 | (1) |
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``you must walk this lonesome'' |
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42 | (1) |
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``Down from the Houses of Magic'' |
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43 | (6) |
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49 | (1) |
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``Sleepwalker on the Mountain'' |
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50 | (1) |
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51 | (1) |
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52 | (1) |
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53 | (1) |
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``In the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge, Thinking of Rachel Carson'' |
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54 | (1) |
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55 | (1) |
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``For Alice Walker (a summertime tanka)'' |
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56 | (1) |
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57 | (1) |
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58 | (2) |
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``Poem to My Child, If Ever You Shall Be'' |
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60 | (3) |
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``To a Certain Lady, in Her Garden'' |
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63 | (2) |
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65 | (1) |
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66 | (5) |
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Cycle Three: Dirt on Our Hands |
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From 12 Million Black Voices |
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71 | (3) |
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74 | (1) |
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75 | (1) |
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76 | (1) |
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77 | (1) |
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78 | (2) |
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80 | (2) |
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``Look at the blackbird fall'' |
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82 | (1) |
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``Flight of the California Condor'' |
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83 | (4) |
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``Since Everyone Can Never Be Safe'' |
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87 | (3) |
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``Won't Be But a Minute'' |
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90 | (1) |
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91 | (2) |
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93 | (2) |
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``A Black Man Talks of Reaping'' |
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95 | (1) |
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96 | (1) |
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97 | (2) |
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99 | (1) |
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``Blues Aubade (or, Revision of the Lean, Post-Modernist Pastorale)'' |
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100 | (2) |
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102 | (1) |
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103 | (6) |
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Cycle Four: Pests, People Too |
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``Boll Weevils, Coyotes, and the Color of Nuisance'' |
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109 | (5) |
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``Miscarriage in October with Ladybugs'' |
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114 | (2) |
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``Man Reading in Bed by a Window with Bugs'' |
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116 | (1) |
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117 | (2) |
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``Ambition II: Mosquito in the Mist'' |
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119 | (3) |
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122 | (1) |
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123 | (1) |
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``For Those Who Need a True Story'' |
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124 | (2) |
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``Postcard to an Ecologist'' |
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126 | (1) |
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127 | (1) |
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``A Plague of Starlings'' |
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128 | (2) |
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130 | (2) |
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``The Brown Menace or Poem to the Survival of Roaches'' |
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132 | (2) |
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134 | (1) |
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``What a Snakehead Discovered in a Maryland Pond and a Poet in Corporate America Have in Common'' |
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135 | (2) |
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``The Lost Conquistador'' |
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137 | (4) |
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``The beginning of the end of the world'' |
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141 | (1) |
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142 | (2) |
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144 | (3) |
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Cycle Five: Forsaken of the Earth |
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147 | (2) |
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149 | (2) |
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151 | (2) |
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153 | (1) |
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``Lament for Dark Peoples'' |
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154 | (1) |
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155 | (1) |
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156 | (3) |
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159 | (3) |
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From Rape of Florida, Canto I |
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162 | (4) |
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``Swimchant of Nigger Mer-Folk (An Aquaboogie Set in Lapis)'' |
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166 | (1) |
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167 | (1) |
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168 | (1) |
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169 | (2) |
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171 | (1) |
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``Sick Man Looks at Flowers'' |
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172 | (1) |
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173 | (1) |
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174 | (1) |
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175 | (4) |
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Cycle Six: Disasters, Natural and Other |
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``Disasters, Nature, and Poetry'' |
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179 | (5) |
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184 | (4) |
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``Children of the Mississippi'' |
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188 | (3) |
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191 | (1) |
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192 | (1) |
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193 | (2) |
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``The Sacred History of the Earth'' |
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195 | (1) |
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``A Greenness Taller Than Gods'' |
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196 | (1) |
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``San Francisco, Spring 1986'' |
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197 | (2) |
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199 | (2) |
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201 | (2) |
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203 | (1) |
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204 | (2) |
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206 | (2) |
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``Floodsong 2: Water Moccasin's Spiritual'' |
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208 | (2) |
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210 | (1) |
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211 | (4) |
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Cycle Seven: Talk of the Animals |
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215 | (3) |
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218 | (1) |
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``Black-and-White Dusk at Limantour Beach'' |
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219 | (2) |
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221 | (1) |
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``The Sea-Turtle and the Shark'' |
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222 | (2) |
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224 | (1) |
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``European Folk Tale Variant'' |
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225 | (1) |
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``Man Raised as Chicken'' |
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226 | (1) |
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227 | (1) |
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228 | (1) |
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229 | (1) |
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230 | (3) |
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233 | (1) |
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234 | (1) |
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235 | (1) |
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``Surfaces and Masks: XXX'' |
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236 | (1) |
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237 | (2) |
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239 | (5) |
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244 | (1) |
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``April Lyric / All I Know Is'' |
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245 | (4) |
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Cycle Eight: What the Land Remembers |
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249 | (3) |
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252 | (2) |
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254 | (2) |
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256 | (2) |
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258 | (2) |
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260 | (1) |
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``I Am Black and the Trees Are Green'' |
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261 | (1) |
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262 | (2) |
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``Tallahatchie Lullabye, Baby'' |
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264 | (1) |
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``Out in the Country of My Country'' |
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265 | (1) |
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``Three Days of Forest, a River, Free'' |
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266 | (1) |
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267 | (2) |
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``Look Ahead, Look South: the future'' |
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269 | (1) |
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270 | (1) |
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271 | (1) |
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272 | (2) |
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From ``Juneteenth: The Bicentennial Poem'' |
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274 | (2) |
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276 | (2) |
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``Last Talk with Jim Hardwick'' |
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278 | (1) |
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``History as Apple Tree'' |
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279 | (4) |
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Cycle Nine: Growing Out of This Land |
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283 | (3) |
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286 | (1) |
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287 | (3) |
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``Seven Pastorals at Sixteen'' |
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290 | (3) |
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293 | (2) |
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295 | (2) |
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297 | (1) |
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``My Grandfather Walks in the Woods'' |
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298 | (2) |
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300 | (1) |
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301 | (2) |
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``Beaches. Why I Don't Care for Them'' |
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303 | (2) |
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``At 57, My Father Learns to Grow Things'' |
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305 | (1) |
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306 | (1) |
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``Letter to the Local Police'' |
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307 | (2) |
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309 | (1) |
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310 | (2) |
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``What My Child Learns of the Sea'' |
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312 | (1) |
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313 | (2) |
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``More Than Once in Caves'' |
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315 | (2) |
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``Pachuta, Mississippi / A Memoir'' |
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317 | (4) |
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Cycle Ten: Comes Always Spring |
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``First Skunk of Spring'' |
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321 | (4) |
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325 | (1) |
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326 | (2) |
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328 | (1) |
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329 | (1) |
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330 | (3) |
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333 | (1) |
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334 | (1) |
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``Deep in the Quiet Wood'' |
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335 | (1) |
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336 | (1) |
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``The Man, His Bowl. His Raspberries.'' |
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337 | (1) |
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``What to Eat, and What to Drink, and What to Leave for Poison'' |
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338 | (4) |
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342 | (1) |
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343 | (1) |
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344 | (2) |
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346 | (1) |
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``My Mississippi Spring'' |
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347 | (1) |
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348 | (3) |
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Credits |
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351 | (10) |
List of Contributors |
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361 | (18) |
Index of Authors |
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379 | (4) |
Index of Titles |
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383 | |