i am accused of tending to the past

by Lucille Clifton

This poem is from Quilting, 1991.   Click here for the text.  It can also be found in The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, vol. 2, third ed. (661). 

Discussion questions:

1.   How does Clifton contrast creating with birthing?
2.  Why is History given a capital H?
3.   What precisely is the warning at the end of the poem?

created by Stan Galloway 5 September 2006.  Last updated 5 September 2006..  Contact me at sgallowa@bridgewater.edu