BE nobody's DARLING

Tuned in to Democracy Now, tonight, and snagged the tail end of an interview with acclaimed author Alice Walker. What a Goddess! I think we Goddess followers (at least those of us trying to go beyond weaving flowers in our hair) could profit by listening to black women. Walker read her power-drenched poem "Be Nobody's Darling":

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast. Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.

Watch the people succumb
To madness
With ample cheer;
Let them look askance at you
And you askance reply.

Be an outcast;
Be pleased to walk alone (Uncool)
Or line the crowded
River beds
With other impetuous
Fools.

Make a merry gathering
On the bank
Where thousands perished
For brave hurt words
They said.

Be nobody's darling;
Be an outcast.
Qualified to live
Among your dead.