Essex Hemphill

I was cleaning out a little used filing cabinet, and I came across several poems I copied years ago in college. The original author is Essex Hemphill, a renowned poet and activist who passed away on November 4, 1995 of AIDS-related complications. I heard him speak 2 times while at college. Below are 3 of his poems, from Tongues Untied, that have stayed with me all these years. Anger unvented becomes pain, unspoken becomes rage, released becomes violence Now we think as we fuck, this nut, might kill us. Silence is my shield It Crushes Silence is my cloak It smothers Silence is my sword It cuts both ways.