Home > Work > For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
1 " but bein alive & bein a woman & bein colored is a metaphysicaldilemma/ i havent conquered yet/ do you see the pointmy spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender/ my love is too delicate to have thrown back on my facemy love is too delicate to have thrown back on my face my love is too beautiful to have thrown back on my face my love is too sanctified to have thrown back on my face my love is too magic to have thrown back on my face my love is too saturday nite to have thrown back on my face my love is too complicated to have thrown back on my face my love is too music to have thrown back on my face "
― Ntozake Shange , For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
2 " one thing I don’t needis any more apologiesi got sorry greetin me at my front dooryou can keep yrsi don’t know what to do wit emthey don’t open doorsor bring the sun backthey don’t make me happyor get a mornin paperdidn’t nobody stop usin my tears to wash carscuz a sorry. "
3 " i done forgot all abt wordsaint got no definitions "
4 " Ever since I realized there waz someone callt/ a colored girl an evil woman a bitch or a nag/ i been tryin not to be that & leave bitterness/ in somebody else's cup... "
5 " i am really colored & really sad sometimes & you hurt memore than i ever danced outta/ i am ready to die like a lily in thedesert/ & i cdnt let you in on it cuz i didnt know/ hereis what i have/ poems/ big thighs/ lil tits/ &so much love/ will you take it from me this one time/ please this is for you "
6 " i'm only human, & inadequacy is what makes us human, & if we was perfect we wdnt have nothin to strive for, so you might as well go on & forgive me pretty baby, cause i'm sorry "
7 " What I want and I wanted to be unforgettable. "
8 " without any assistance or guidance from youi have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a dayi have been stood up four timesi've left 7 packages on yr doorstepforty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i lefttown so i cd send to you have been no help to meon my jobyou call at 3:00 in the mornin on weekdaysso i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to workcharmin charminbut you are of no assistancei want you to knowthis waz an experimentto see how selifsh i cd beif i wd really carry on to snare a possible loverif i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of anotherif i cd stand not being wantedwhen i wanted to be wanted& i cannotsowith no further assistance & no guidance from youi am endin this affairthis note is attached to a planti've been waterin since the day i met youyou may water ityr damn self "
9 " my spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender "
10 " somebody/ anybodysing a black girl's songbring her outto know herselfto know youbut sing her rhythmscarin/ struggle/ hard timessing her song of lifeshe's been dead so longclosed in silence so longshe doesn't know the soundof her own voiceher infinite beautyshe's half-notes scatteredwithout rhythm/ no tunesing her sighssing the song of her possibilitiessing a righteous gospellet her be bornlet her be born& handled warmly. "
11 " i usedta live in the worldreally be in the worldfree & sweet talkingood mornin & thank-you & nice dayuh huhi cant nowi cant be nice to nobodynice is such a rip-offregular beauty & a smile in the streetis just a set-up "
12 " And this is for Colored girls who have considered suicide, but are moving to the ends of their own rainbows. "
13 " i loved you on purposei was open on purposei still crave vulnerability & close talk& i'm not even sorry bout you bein sorryyou can carry all the guilt & grime ya wannajust dont give it to mei cant use another sorrynext timeyou should admityou're mean/ low-down/ triflin/ & no count straight outsteada bein sorry alla the timeenjoy bein yrself "
14 " i survive on intimacy & tomorrow/ "
15 " let her be born / let her be born / & handled warmly. "
16 " Being alive and being a woman is all I got but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven't conquered yet "
17 " i want you to knowthis waz an experimentto see how selfish i cd beif i wd really carry on to snare a possible loverif i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of anotherif i cd stand not being wantedwhen i wanted to be wanted& i cannotsowith no further assistance & no guidance from youi am endin this affairthis note is attached to a planti've been waterin since the day i met youyou may water ityr damn self "
18 " lady in blue one thing i dont need is any more apologies i got sorry greetin me at my front door you can keep yrs i dont know what to do wit em they dont open doors or bring the sun back they dont make me happy or get a mornin paper didnt nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars cuz a sorry i am simply tired of collectin ‘i didnt know i was so important to you’ i’m gonna haveta throw some away i cant get to the clothes in my closet for alla the sorries i’m gonna tack a sign to my door leave a message by the phone ‘if you called to say yr sorry call somebody else i dont use em anymore’ i "
19 " lady in red but if you’ve been seen in public wit him danced one dance kissed him good-bye lightly lady in purple wit closed mouth lady in blue pressin charges will be as hard as keepin yr legs closed while five fools try to run a train on you lady in red these men friends of ours who smile nice stay employed and take us out to dinner lady in purple lock the door behind you lady in blue wit fist in face to fuck lady in red who make elaborate mediterranean dinners & let the art ensemble carry all ethical burdens while they invite a coupla friends over to have you are sufferin from latent rapist bravado & we are left wit the scars lady "
20 " The poems introduce the girls to other kinds of people of color, other worlds. To adventure, and kindness, and cruelty. Cruelty that we usually think we face alone, but we don’t. We discover that by sharing with each other we find strength to go on. The poems are the play’s first hint of the global misogyny that we women face. "
