Poem: ” The Things in Black Men’s Closets” by Eugene Ethelbert Miller

1 Posted by - November 9, 2024 - Black History, BLACK MEN, LATEST POSTS, Poems

Eugene Ethelbert Miller, best known as E. Ethelbert Miller, is an African-American poet and teacher.

Miller was born in the Bronx, New York. He received his B.A. from Howard University. He is the author of nine books of poetry, two memoirs and is the editor of three poetry anthologies. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Poet Lore, and Sojourners.

Miller was the founder and director of the Ascension Poetry Reading Series, one of the oldest literary series in the Washington area. Since 1974 he has been director of Howard University’s African-American Resource Center. Miller has taught at various schools, including American University, Emory & Henry College, George Mason University, Harpeth Hall School and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was also a core faculty member of the writing seminars at Bennington College. He worked with Operation Homecoming for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

He  serves as board chairperson of the Institute for Policy Studies. He is also on the boards of Split This Rock and the Writer’s Center, and is co-editor of Poet Lore magazine. He is former chair of the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C., and has served on the boards of the AWP, the Edmund Burke School, PEN American Center, PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and the Washington Area Lawyer for the Arts (WALA).

The Things In Black Men’s Closets

Poem by Eugene Ethelbert Miller

on the top shelf
of the closet
in the hat my father
wears on special occasions
it rests next to the large jar
he saves pennies in

his head is always bare
when i see him walking
in the street

i once sat in his bedroom
watching him search
between sweaters and suits
looking for something missing
a tie perhaps

then he stopped
and slowly walked to the closet
took the hat from the shelf

i sat on the bed
studying his back
waiting for him to turn
and tell me who died

 

source:

http://www.eethelbertmiller.com/

https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-things-in-black-men-s-closets/

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