Heavy Daughter Blues: Poems and Stories 1968-1986

By Wanda Coleman

Book Overview

Heavy Daughter Blues was the first selected poetry and prose of Wanda Coleman written between 1968 and 1986 (now replaced by the more recent Black Sparrow edition, Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems edited by Terrance Hayes.)
These poems and stories reflect the daily struggles of a poet-performer whose fight to survive is "plagued by the fear of not making it" ("Trying To Get In"). Poverty is an ever-present set of "claws" to grapple with, and in Coleman's realistically-apprehended present there's no way to beat the Man at his own game: "it's high noon / the sheriff is an IBM executive / it shoots 120 words per secretary / i reach for the white-out / it's too fast for me / i'm blown to blazes" ("Job Hunter").
Passion and desire yield insights, also betrayals: "yes i do think of you / when i'm with him / even laugh out loud / remembering our summer's fun / how it might be fun again / still, something in his eyes / i do not see in yours" ("Four Men").
Poet Wanda Coleman provides a how-to manual, revealing some immediate ways not only to "fix a bad man hex" or "do dirty better," but to keep one's dream-light burning amid the aching rush of dark and anxious times.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0876857012
• ISBN13: 9780876857014
• Release Date: August 1987
• Publisher: Black Sparrow Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 5.9"

Customer Reviews

Don't believe the hype, but do read the book

I respect Robert P. Beveridge's review, but I don't see the distinction he's making between Coleman's "scalpel" poems and her "automatic writing" poems. The "walking" quote he singled out for criticism comes from one of the more-effective pieces, in my opinion. This may come down to a matter of taste. I wonder if Wanda Coleman herself would agree that poetry is supposed to elevate the language. She doesn't seem to be trying to "elevate" anything. She seems to be groping at the limits of language to express the kind of pain that usually shocks people mute.

Prepare to be moved

If you have never read any of Coleman's poetry before, dive on in. She is a gifted writer with one foot in the black oral tradition and the other firmly rooted in the American experience. A previous review of this book complained about Coleman's inability to spell certain words, such as come and enough, correctly. Obviously, this reviewer has his head buried in the Ivory Tower. It seems fairly remedial to have to point out that Coleman purposely misspells these and other words: she is trying to make a poetic point! I suggest reading the poem "Essay on Language" (a version of which also appears in her "Hand Dance" collection) for a further understanding of why she chooses to write in a style that reflects her life and her experience. Standard English is nothing but a dialect, you know.If you are looking for gripping, emotional, passionate poetry that tells a woman's side of the story, pick up Heavy Daughter Blues. You won't be disappointed.