jasper texas 1998

American poet Lucille Clifton’s poem “jasper texas 1998” was published in her 2000 collection, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. In “jasper texas 1998,” Clifton reacts to the brutal lynching of a Black man named James Byrd, Jr., in Jasper, Texas in 1998. Instead of writing a traditional elegy that mourns the death of the poem’s subject, she instead creates a sort of dramatic monologue where the victim’s head is able to speak for itself directly to the reader. This choice allows Clifton to address the larger topics of racial violence and intolerance while creating a greater sense of anger and sadness in her reader.

Clifton’s poetry examines family life, her battle with cancer, racism, and gender. A prolific poet, Clifton has many well-known poems, including “homage to my hips,” “wishes for my sons,” and “blessing the boats.” Her poems often use postmodern conventions, such as using distinct choices in capitalization and punctuation to criticize the dominant ideology and culture.

Poet Biography

Lucille Clifton was born Thelma Lucille Sayles on June 27, 1936, in Depew, New York. Her father was a steel mill worker and her mother was a launderer who wrote poetry as a hobby.