Summer Love Poem/ Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni‘s “A Summer Love Poem”

On June 7, 1943, Yolanda Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and is the daughter of the Late Yolande Cornelia and Jones “Gus” Giovanni. Giovanni was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio however, makes frequent visits to their grandparents home in Knoxville throughout her childhood. During Giovanni’s first three years of life is when her older sister, Gary Ann begin calling her Nikki. In 1960, she entered Fisk University- her grandfather’s alma mater in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was involved in organizations such as the Writer's Workshop editing literary magazines, and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. in 1967, Giovanni, received her Bachelor of Arts in History and organized the Black Arts Festival in Cincinnati before entering graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. In 1968, Giovanni began her career as a writer as she published her first two books which include Black Feeling Black Talk. Subsequently, Giovanni, began publishing volumes of literary pieces and books, later being deemed as the “Princess of Black Poetry”. Giovanni has received numerous honorary degrees and NAACP Image Awards and continues to publish, inspire, and teach others. It is through Giovanni’s brutal honesty, experience and wisdom that allow her to continue to excel in her career.

A Summer Love Poem

by Nikki Giovanni

Clouds float by on a summer sky

I hop scotch over to you

Rainbows arch from ground to gold

I climb over to you

Thunder grumbles, lightning tumbles

And I bounce over to you

Sun beams back and catches me

Smiling over at you

In the lyric poem “A Summer Love”, Giovanni uses onomatopoeia” to reveal the setting of the poem. For example, Giovanni’s referenced that the “Thunder grumbles”, which not only suggests that it was thundering, but further implies that the thunder was complaining. The poem “Summer Love” is four stances and is free...