I've had this book only since August. I read it while riding up to Chicago with a friend. I must say some parts I had to read twice. But that is only because when it comes to poems I favor the rhyming type more than the feel-it-in-your-soul type. I mean I enjoy a good non-rhyming poem every now and then but I'm just more inclined to read the other. Anyway, let's get started, shall we?
For starters, the poem is about seven ladies of color (represented by different colors) who go through happy and also sad moments in life that include abandonment, rape, love, and even abortion. The ladies are known in the book only by their colors which are brown, yellow, purple, red, green, blue, and orange. They live in Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Manhattan, and St. Louis, respectively.
One part I found funny is found on pages 49-54 and starts with lady in green and ends with lady in blue. According to the contents, the poems are called somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff and sorry. In the first poem told by lady in green, she talks about her stuff (her being, her style, everything that makes her her) and a lover taking it. Sometimes in relationships, women are giving of themselves so much that they don't realize that they're giving everything away. Usually when they do realize it, they've come out of the relationship a completely different person as if they let someone walk off with all of their stuff. Some of the poem goes, "It waznt a spirit took my stuff/waz a man whose ego walked round like Rodan's shadow/was a man faster n my innocence/was a lover/i made too much time for/almost run off wit alla my stuff/& i didn't know i'd give it up so quik/& the one running wit it/dont know he got it." Then at the end the other ladies get involved and talk about common things a guy says when he says sorry like "i don't know how she got yr number baby, i'm sorry" and "now i know that ya know i love ya, but i aint ever gonna love ya like ya want me to love ya, i'm sorry." It ends with lady in blue saying how she's tired of hearing apologies. She says, " i am simply tired of collectin 'i didn't know it was so important to you'/i'm gonna haveta throw some away/i cant get to the clothes in my closet/for alla the sorries......you were always inconsistent/doin something then bein sorry/beatin my heart to death/talkin bout you sorry......i loved you on purpose/i was open on purpose/i still crave vulnerability & close talk/& i'm not even sorry bout you bein sorry/you can carry all the guilt and grime ya wanna/just dont give it to me/i cant use another sorry/next time/you should admit/you're mean low-down triflin & no count straight out/steada bein sorry alla the time/enjoy bein yrself."
The other funny poem is called no assistance and starts on page 13. I think it was humorous because of how crazy it made lady in red sound. She says, "without any assistance or guidance from you/i have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a day/i have been stood up four times/i've left 7 packages on yr doorstep/forty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i left/town so i cd send to you have been no help to me/on my job/you call at 3:30 in the mornin on weekdays/so i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to work/charmin charmin/but you are of no assistance/i want you to know/this waz an experiment/to see how selfish i cd be/if i wd really carry on to snare a possible lover/if i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of another/if i cd stand not being wanted/when i wanted to be wanted/& i cannot/so/with no further assistance & no guidance from you/i am endin this affair/this note is attached to a plant/i've been waterin since the day I met you/you may water it/yr damn self." Of course, I was thinking from the man's point of view when reading this lol and I can't help but feel like uhhhh ok this chick is crazy O_o. From the woman's point of view, I related especially to the part about going out of my way to see a guy when I know good and well I should have been somewhere else lol. Smh glad those days are over.
I'm not sure how much the movie will be like the book. But I recommend if you're planning to see it, that you read the choreopoem first. I'm anxious to see it. I especially want to see how a night with beau willie brown will be portrayed on the big screen. That tale is drama-filled and you have to read it to fully understand it. I will say, however, that the relationship between Willie and Crystal is a crazy one indeed.
If any of you do see the movie, please come back to my blog and comment on if you liked it or not. Also, if you read the book AND see the movie, I'd love to read your take on the similarities and differences. Well, until next Thursday, ciao!
~BB~
