Eugene Ethelbert Miller

Eugene Ethelbert Miller Poems

sometimes the deaf
hear better than the blind
some men
...

My four year old daughter comes home from school with a map of the world. This
is Africa she tells me. This is where we
come from. Daddy watch me color the rest
of the world. I watch her color Europe red
...

on the top shelf
of the closet
in the hat my father
wears on special occasions
...

He watched her move the food in her plate
And he was moved -
He wanted to follow the food to her lips
...

snow falling on prayers
covering the path
made by your
...

tomorrow
i will take the
journey back
...

I'm in the school bathroom
washing my hands without
soap but I'm still washing my hands.
...

Rosa Parks dreams about
a bus in Jerusalem. A headless
woman sits in her seat. There is no
...

When you were in elementary school
no one told you about the black laws
of cause and effect. Your science teacher
...

It was the language that left us first.
The Great Migration of words. When people
spoke they punched each other in the mouth.
There was no vocabulary for love. Women
...

11.

sometimes after someone has hit a foul
the umpire will toss a new ball back to the pitcher
the pitcher will catch it look at it rub it
then toss it back and ask that umpire for a new ball
...

will i hate mirrors?
will i hate reflections?
will i hate to dress?
will i hate to undress?
...

You push the door open not knowing
what to expect. She sits in a chair next
to her hospital bed. Just sitting. How long?
...

most of my socks have holes in them
so when I get to omar's house
the first thing I hear
...

sometimes my daddy argues with my momma
sometimes it's about rent
or why my shoes suddenly grew small
...

I told her...she had very nice hips.
She told me...I shouldn't be looking around
corners.
I said...I like to see where I'm going.
...

17.

poetry is prayer
light dancing inside words
five times a day
...

you lie in bed listening,
waiting, fearing the moment
your father returns home. you
...

Every morning
I look for you
on the menu.
...

20.

in the early twenties
a boat brought
my father to America
his first impressions
...

Eugene Ethelbert Miller Biography

Eugene Ethelbert Miller, best known as E. Ethelbert Miller (born 20 November 1950 Bronx, New York) is an African-American poet and teacher. He was born in the Bronx. He received his B.A. from Howard University. He is the author of nine books of poetry, two memoirs and is the editor of three poetry anthologies. His work has appeared in numerous publications including Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Poet Lore, and Sojourners. Miller was the founder and director of the Ascension Poetry Reading Series, one of the oldest literary series in the Washington area. Since 1974 he has been director of Howard University's African-American Resource Center. Miller has taught at various schools, including American University, Emory & Henry College, George Mason University, Harpeth Hall School and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was also a core faculty member of the writing seminars at Bennington College. He worked with Operation Homecoming for the NEH. A sign on the north entrance to the Dupont Circle Metro station in Washington, D.C. An excerpt from "The Wound-Dresser", by Walt Whitman, is inscribed into the granite wall around the entrance escalators. An excerpt from "We Embrace", by E. Ethelbert Miller, is inscribed into the sidewalk surrounding a nearby circular bench. He currently serves as board chairperson of the Institute for Policy Studies. He is also on the boards of Split This Rock and the Writer's Center, and is co-editor of Poet Lore magazine. He is former chair of the Humanities Council of Washington, D. C. and has served on the boards of the AWP, the Edmund Burke School, PEN American Center, PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and the Washington Area Lawyer for the Arts (WALA). He lives in Washington, D. C. In 1979, Marion Barry, the mayor of Washington, DC, proclaimed September 28, 1979 as "E. Ethelbert Miller Day." His papers are held at Emory & Henry College and The George Washington University.)

The Best Poem Of Eugene Ethelbert Miller

Billie Holiday

sometimes the deaf
hear better than the blind
some men
when they first
heard her sing
were only attracted
to the flower in her hair

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