How does Nikki Giovanni use imagery in Knoxville, Tennesee?

Knoxville, Tennessee is a daring poem that could have gone wrong in any number of ways, but does not. It shows more restraint than Giovanni's other poems of the time, which were full of flash but burned out quickly. It also shows more substance than other poems that pretend to offer warmhearted looks at childhood. Through the use of specific imagery and a good understanding, or memory, of how a young person would talk about the situation, Giovanni is able to make readers from all different backgrounds feel how her poem's narrator feels. It is a triumph of quiet restraint, and a good example of what poetry can do at its best.

"eat fresh corn
From daddy's garden"

"listen to
Gospel music
Outside"

"go barefooted
And be warm
All the time"