Contents
Preface
Tender
I.
Exits From Elmina Castle: Cape Coast, Ghana
II.
When My Father Was Beating Me
III.
Black Boys Play the Classics
Shoe Repair Business
Brother
Family Secrets
After a Reading at a Black College
For Black Women Who Are Afraid
Passing
Inventory
Bookstore
At a Cocktail Party Honoring a Noted Old Southern Writer
Workshop on Racism
IV.
Invisible Dreams
Two Poems
V.
1:30 A.M.
VI.
Dead Baby Speaks
VII.
The Body Awakening
For Sharan Strange, After a Reading
For Sister Sue Ellen and Her Special Messenger
At Wintergreen: A Retreat for African-American Women Writers
The Origins of the Artist: Natalie Cole
On Katchimac Bay: Homer, Alaska
Coming
From a Letter: About Snow
Death at Still Point
The Blessing
Not Forgotten
The Touch
Grace Paley Reading
In the Mountains
On the Miracle of the Crying Statue: Before You Begin
Clitoris