Transcript: Poems on Air, Episode 92 - Lucille Clifton

The following transcript is provided for accessibility only. Layout, formatting, and typography of poems may differ from the original text. We recommend referring to the original, published works when possible to experience the poems as intended by their authors.

[Music intro]

LYNNE THOMPSON: Hello! My name is Lynne Thompson, Poet Laureate for the City of Los Angeles, and I’m so happy to welcome listeners to this installment of Poems on Air, a podcast supported by the Los Angeles Public Library. Every week, I’ll present the work of poets I admire, poets who you should know, and poets who have made a substantial and inimitable contribution to the art and craft of poetry.

LYNNE THOMPSON: From the beginning, Poems on Air planned to feature the much-beloved poet Lucille Clifton in the last installment for 2022. The author of numerous collections of poetry and children’s books, Clifton was a National Book Prize awardee, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, a Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. She served as Maryland’s Poet Laureate from 1974 to 1985 and won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from the Poetry Foundation in 2007. When asked how she wanted to be remembered, she said, “I would like to be seen as a woman whose roots go back to Africa, who tried to honor being human. My inclination is to try to help.” Clifton died in 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland.

LYNNE THOMPSON: Today’s poem is "i am not done yet" by Lucille Clifton.

"i am not done yet"


as possible as yeast
as imminent as bread
a collection of safe habits
a collection of cares
less certain than i seem
more certain that i was
a changed changer
i continue to continue
where i have been
most of my lives is
where i am going

LYNNE THOMPSON: The Los Angeles Poet Laureate was created as a joint program between the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles Public Library and this podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening!

[Music outro]

  • Back to Poems on Air: Episode 92

    • DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a certified or verbatim transcript, but rather represents only the context of the class or meeting, subject to the inherent limitations of real-time captioning. The primary focus of real-time captioning is general communication access and as such this document is not suitable, acceptable, nor is it intended for use in any type of legal proceeding. Transcript provided by the author.

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