my dream about being white

“my dream of being white” is written in free verse, meaning that it has no regular meter or rhyme scheme. This reflects the rhythms and language of the vernacular, or everyday spoken patterns of speech, and indicates that the poem is meant to speak to everyday people outside the literary elite. It is also meant to speak for everyday people, elevating their concerns and their aesthetic to the level of poetry. Specifically, Clifton’s poetry employs techniques and themes developed in the Black Arts Movement. Her poems are often short, focused on experiences rooted in African American culture, and make use of the vernacular rather than academic language. Her poems often eschew typical punctuation in favor of a free-flow style unhindered by periods and commas.

Though the poem has no regular meter, it has a distinct pace and flow: easy and nonchalant, but quietly brisk. The organic, unstructured line breaks also convey an imaginative spontaneity, and all these elements create a sense of dreaminess (whether the poem portrays a day dream or a sleeping dream is unclear, as both are a kind of trance from which one can “wake up” [Line 16]).