When Nikki Giovanni's poems first emerged during the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements of …
The Wind in the Bottle by Nikki Giovanni (For Gloria Haffer on her Sixtieth Birthday)
Twice she dreamed of rainbows Not for the pots of gold nor the elves basking in the colors but the symmetry of the line going up and down
Once she wished for wings or at least red shoes to ease on down the road
Often she worries two arms one head one heart can't protest the falling fruit
Something will stay on the tree and rot Something will fall and be left behind
Twice she dreamed of rainbows playing hide-and-seek with the clouds
The colors defy the sun
Who kisses the wind Good night
— Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea by Nikki Giovanni (Page 7)