SOURCE: "A Simple Language," in Black Women Writers (1950-1980): A Critical Evaluation, edited by Mari Evans, Anchor Press/Double, 1984, pp. 137-38

Here, Clifton describes her views of her role in society and the ideology and methods behind her poetry

I write the way I write because I am the kind of person that I am. My styles and content stem from my experience. I grew up a well-loved child in a loving family and so I have always known that being very poor, which we were, had nothing to do with lovingness or familyness or character or any of that. This doesn't mean that I or we were content with whatever we had and never hoped tried worked at having more. It means that we were quite clear that what we had didn't have anything to do with what we were. We were/are quite sure that we...