Coal

“Father Son and Holy Ghost” by Audre Lorde (1976)

This poem appears before “Coal” in the book of the same title, as well as in The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde (1997). “Father Son and Holy Ghost” is about the death of Lorde’s father, as well as her relationship to him. The repeated image of the “grave” in the first and last lines is connected to the repeated image of “earth” (Lines 3 and 25) in “Coal.” Looking at the two poems together, the underground is a place of both death and birth.

“Who Said It Was Simple” by Audre Lorde (1973)

This poem appears in Lorde's book From a Land Where Other People Live. Like “Coal,” this poem discusses race. It also includes a more direct discussion of gender than “Coal,” as Lorde wonders about her liberation as a Black woman. “Who Said It Was Simple” is similar to “Coal” in that both contain elements from nature. The tree “roots” (Line 1) in “Who Said It Was Simple” can be compared to the “earth” (Lines 3 and 25) in “Coal.”

“From the House of Yemanjá” by Audre Lorde (1978)

This poem appears in Lorde’s book The Black Unicorn and takes a different, more autobiographical look at Lorde’s relationship to her mother.