- It’s Just Love
it’s just love it won’t sweeten your coffee or ice your tea
it won’t grill your steak or bake your crusty bread
it certainly won’t pour your olive oil over your shredded parmesan / reggiano cheeses
it might make you laugh
it’s just love it won’t rub your feet or your back it won’t tousle your hair or paint your fingernails Red
it might make you want Red fingernails though [End Page 24] it’s only love
it has no coupon value though it also does not expire
just me just you just love
yeah
good for nothing love
throw it away when you get tired of it [End Page 25]
Nikki Giovanni is one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Twenty-five Living Legends.” The recipient of some twenty-five honorary degrees, she has been named Woman of the Year by Mademoiselle, The Ladies Home Journal, and Ebony. She is the author of seventeen poetry collections, eleven children’s books and ten books of prose. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, she was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, but spent summers in Knoxville with her grandparents. Since 1997 she has taught at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.