The Laws of Motion Poem by Nikki Giovanni

The Laws of Motion

Rating: 5.0


The laws of science teach us a pound of gold weighs as
much as a pound of flour though if dropped from any
undetermined height in their natural state one would
reach bottom and one would fly away

Laws of motion tell us an inert object is more difficult to
propel than an object heading in the wrong direction is to
turn around. Motion being energy—inertia—apathy.
Apathy equals hostility. Hostility—violence. Violence
being energy is its own virtue. Laws of motion teach us

Black people are no less confused because of our
Blackness than we are diffused because of our
powerlessness. Man we are told is the only animal who
smiles with his lips. The eyes however are the mirror of
the soul

The problem with love is not what we feel but what we
wish we felt when we began to feel we should feel
something. Just as publicity is not production: seduction
is not seductive

If I could make a wish I'd wish for all the knowledge of all
the world. Black may be beautiful Professor Micheau
says but knowledge is power. Any desirable object is
bought and sold—any neglected object declines in value.
It is against man's nature to be in either category

If white defines Black and good defines evil then men
define women or women scientifically speaking describe
men. If sweet is the opposite of sour and heat the
absence of cold then love is the contradiction of pain and
beauty is in the eye of the beheld

Sometimes I want to touch you and be touched in
return. But you think I'm grabbing and I think you're
shirking and Mama always said to look out for men like
you

So I go to the streets with my lips painted red and my
eyes carefully shielded to seduce the world my reluctant
lover

And you go to your men slapping fives feeling good
posing as a man because you know as long as you sit
very very still the laws of motion will be in effect

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Dr Antony Theodore 16 April 2020

Sometimes I want to touch you and be touched in return. But you think I'm grabbing and I think you're shirking and Mama always said to look out for men like you- very good poem. tony

0 0 Reply
Bernard F. Asuncion 13 May 2018

Such a great poem by Nilki Giovanni👍👍👍

0 0 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 13 May 2018

An inert object! ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

0 0 Reply
Robert Murray Smith 13 May 2018

An interesting write. This poem rights no wrongs but hangs itself on motion and inertia. I would like to see more introspection in this narrative poem. There is no point in accepting, as the last stanza does, inevitability. Inherent racism must be tackled head on. It is ignorance. We are all related as humans.As should all ignorant inequalities.

1 1 Reply
Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni

Knoxville, Tennessee
Close
Error Success