Ntozake Shange Quotes

“i’m only human, & inadequacy is what makes us human, & if we was perfect we wdnt have nothin to strive for, so you might as well go on & forgive me pretty baby, cause i’m sorry”

“one thing I don’t need is any more apologies i got sorry greetin me at my front door you can keep yrs i don’t know what to do wit em they don’t open doors or bring the sun back they don’t make me happy or get a mornin paper didn’t nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars cuz a sorry.”

“i usedta live in the world really be in the world free & sweet talkin good mornin & thank-you & nice day uh huh i cant now i cant be nice to nobody nice is such a rip-off regular beauty & a smile in the street is just a set-up”

“i loved you on purpose i was open on purpose i still crave vulnerability & close talk & i’m not even sorry bout you bein sorry you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna just dont give it to me i cant use another sorry next time you should admit you’re mean/ low-down/ triflin/ & no count straight out steada bein sorry alla the time enjoy bein yrself”

“Being alive and being a woman is all I got but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven’t conquered yet”

“i usedta live in the world then i moved to HARLEM & my universe is now six blocks”

“i done forgot all abt words aint got no definitions”

“Ever since I realized there waz someone callt/ a colored girl an evil woman a bitch or a nag/ i been tryin not to be that & leave bitterness/ in somebody else’s cup...”

“somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff not my poems or a dance i gave up in the street but somenody almost walked off wid alla my stuff like a kleptomaniac workin hard and forgettin while stealin this is mine this aint yr stuff now why dont you put me back and let me hang out in my own self...”

“its been so many years and there he was at the concert and he looked the same way he’s always looked and then he looked at me the same way he’s always looked and then his arm was around me and we walked the same way we’s always walked and i fell into his arms and we fell into the bed.”

“And this is for Colored girls who have considered suicide, but are moving to the ends of their own rainbows.”

“but bein alive & bein a woman & bein colored is a metaphysical dilemma/ i havent conquered yet/ do you see the point my spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender/ my love is too delicate to have thrown back on my face my love is too delicate to have thrown back on my face my love is too beautiful to have thrown back on my face my love is too sanctified to have thrown back on my face my love is too magic to have thrown back on my face my love is too saturday nite to have thrown back on my face my love is too complicated to have thrown back on my face my love is too music to have thrown back on my face”

″...don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul are we animals? have we gone crazy? i can’t hear anythin but maddening screams and the soft strains of death and promised me you promised me... somebody/anybody sing a black girl’s song bring her out to know herself to know you but sing her rhythms carin/ struggle/ hard times sing her song of life she’s been dead so long closed in silence so long she doesn’t know the sound of her own voice her infinite beauty she’s half-notes scattered without rhythm/ no tune sing her sighs sing the songs of her possibilities sing a righteous gospel let her be born and handled warmly.”

“without any assistance or guidance from you i have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a day i have been stood up four times i’ve left 7 packages on yr doorstep forty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i left town so i cd send to you have been no help to me on my job you call at 3:00 in the mornin on weekdays so i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to work charmin charmin but you are of no assistance i want you to know this waz an experiment to see how selifsh i cd be if i wd really carry on to snare a possible lover if i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of another if i cd stand not being wanted when i wanted to be wanted & i cannot so with no further assistance & no guidance from you i am endin this affair this note is attached to a plant i’ve been waterin since the day i met you you may water it yr damn self”

“somebody/ anybody sing a black girl’s song bring her out to know herself to know you but sing her rhythms carin/ struggle/ hard times sing her song of life she’s been dead so long closed in silence so long she doesn’t know the sound of her own voice her infinite beauty she’s half-notes scattered without rhythm/ no tune sing her sighs sing the song of her possibilities sing a righteous gospel let her be born let her be born & handled warmly.”

“The stage is in darkness. Harsh music is heard as dim blue lights come up. One after another, seven women run onto the stage from each of the exits. They all freeze in postures of distress. The follow spot picks up the lady in brown. She comes to life and looks around at the other ladies. All of the others are still. She walks over to the lady in red and calls to her. They lady in red makes no response.”

“i am really colored & really sad sometimes & you hurt me more than i ever danced outta/ i am ready to die like a lily in the desert/ & i cdnt let you in on it cuz i didnt know/ here is what i have/ poems/ big thighs/ lil tits/ & so much love/ will you take it from me this one time/ please this is for you”

“Dark phrases of womanhood of never havin been a girl half-notes scattered without rhythm/no tune distraught laughter fallin over a black girl’s shoulder it’s funny/it’s hysterical the melody-lesslness of her dance don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul she’s a dancin on beer cans and shingles this must be the spook house another song with no singers lyrics/ no voices and interrupted solos unseen performances are we ghouls? children of horror? the joke?...”

“its not that i dont love him not that i never love him its just been so many years.”

″...somebody almost walke off wid alla my stuff and didnt care enuf to send a not home sayin i waz late fo my solo conversation or two sizes too small for my own tacky skirts what can anybody do wit somethin of no value on a open market did you getta dime for my things hey man where are you goin wid alla my stuff this is a woman’s trip and i need my stuff to ohh and ahh abt daddy i gotta mainline nmber from my own shit now wontchu put me back and let me play this duet wit this silver ring in my nose...”