When You Thought Me Poor Poem by Alice Walker

When You Thought Me Poor

Rating: 3.6


When you thought me poor,
my poverty was shaming.
When blackness was unwelcome
we found it best
that I stay home.

When by the miracle
of fierce dreaming and hard work
Life fulfilled our every want
you found me crassly
well off;
not trimly,
inconspicuously wealthy
like your rich friends.

Still black too,
now
I owned too much and too many
of everything.

Woe is me: I became a
success! Blackness, who
knows how?
Became suddenly
in!

What to do?
Now that Fate appears
(for the moment anyhow)
to have dismissed
abject failure
in any case?
Now that moonlight and night
have blessed me.

Now that the sun
unaffected by criticism
of any sort,
implacably beams
the kiss filled magic that creates
the dark and radiant wonder
of my face.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Manonton Dalan 25 January 2016

I am always poor so I don't know the other side.

3 0 Reply
U ano 21 February 2018

me guta luis XD iojjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

1 1 Reply
Lyn Paul 16 May 2020

Dear Alice. I hope with all of your hard work you now feel enriched. We know that money is not happiness. We are given life lessons every day. Though many never learn. Beautifully words expressed.

1 1 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 16 May 2020

" When blackness was unwelcome" ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

0 0 Reply
Dr Antony Theodore 03 February 2019

implacably beams the kiss filled magic that creates the dark and radiant wonder of my face. a very good poem. tony

0 0 Reply
Dr Antony Theodore 28 August 2020

When you thought me poor, my poverty was shaming. When blackness was unwelcome we found it best that I stay home. poverty, shame, sufferings the feeling of rejection. very fine poem. tony

0 0 Reply
Kumarmani Mahakul 16 May 2020

Now that moonlight and night have blessed me.......Outstanding conceptualization. Fine Poem. Thanks and congratualitions for being selected this poem as the modern poem of the poem of the day.

0 0 Reply
Dominic Windram 16 May 2020

Powerful poem about the racism inherent in American society.

0 0 Reply
Dr Antony Theodore 16 May 2020

Woe is me: I became a success! Blackness, who knows how? Became suddenly in! .. a very good poem. tony

0 1 Reply
Sonam Tsering 16 May 2020

Thank You for sharing your wise and wisdom words.

0 0 Reply
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Alice Walker

Alice Walker

Eatonton Georgia
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