There is something of a feeling of simple smallness when looking at a Lucille Clifton poem like "blessing the boats," with its lower case letters, short lines, and direct address, but Clifton hardly stands simple and small in the poetic canon. Her collection "Blessing the Boats" won the National Book Award in 2000, and her work has done much to articulate the Black experience, as well as that of being a woman—and, of course, simply a human. "blessing the boats" has always resonated with me for the beauty of its wish, the sense of standing at a horizon with support to buoy one forth. Perhaps one to utter at the harbor, looking out across the water with hope,
blessing the boats
(at St. Mary's)
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that
- Lucille Clifton