30 Habits of Highly Effective Authors #28: Nikki Giovanni on Personifying Poems

Nikki Giovanni has several poems that use the poem itself, or the act of writing, as a metaphor. When you read these poems together, the poem takes on a persona: A friend or beloved whose feelings for the speaker are unreliable. Giovanni speaks to the complicated relationship poets have with their words.

Habits

by Nikki Giovanni

i haven't written a poem in so long
i may have forgotten how
unless writing a poem
is like riding a bike
or swimming upstream
or loving you
it may be a habit that once acquired
is never lost

but you say i'm foolish
of course you love me
but being loved of course
is not the same as being loved because
or being loved despite
or being loved

if you love me why
do i feel so lonely 

Read the rest of the poem here.

My favorite lines are: "it may be a habit that once acquired/ is never lost." It's a message I share with students, beginning writers, and stuck writers. Once you're bitten by the writing bug, it will always be there for you.

Here is Nikki Giovanni performing, "Talk to Me Poem." It was featured on an early episode of Def Poetry Jam.