As I was doing a little bit of research on Clifton, I found that many critics had similar things to say regarding her style. A Christian Century review of Clifton’s work said, “The first thing that strikes us about Lucille Clifton's poetry is what is missing: capitalization, punctuation, long and plentiful lines. We see a poetry so pared down that its spaces take on substance, become a shaping presence as much as the words themselves”. An American Poetry Review article said, “Clifton's poetics of understatement—no capitalization, few strong stresses per line, many poems totaling fewer than twenty lines, the sharp rhetorical question—includes the essential only". After I read these reviews I realized that they are completely accurate—Lucile Clifton manages to convey a lot in the most minimalist way possible.
I think that this poem is all about the persisting separation between blacks and whites. The barrier is no longer physical, for the Jim Crowe laws are long gone, but it is psychological. She illustrates this in the first stanza, where she shows that the exact same thing—a river—can have a very distinct significance for blacks and whites. She also demonstrates the discrepancy between the mentalities of both races in the second stanza, where she points out how African-Americans have grown used to asking for help, since it is sometimes the only way they can survive.
I really like how she states that the differences between blacks and whites go beyond color—it is mostly about how they see themselves. I think that she is saying that if African Americans never stop seeing themselves as poor, they will never stop being poor. Ultimately, what is still keeping them back is not only society; it is also their mentalities. That’s the river that drives a chasm between the two races.
I think that this poem is all about the persisting separation between blacks and whites. The barrier is no longer physical, for the Jim Crowe laws are long gone, but it is psychological. She illustrates this in the first stanza, where she shows that the exact same thing—a river—can have a very distinct significance for blacks and whites. She also demonstrates the discrepancy between the mentalities of both races in the second stanza, where she points out how African-Americans have grown used to asking for help, since it is sometimes the only way they can survive.
I really like how she states that the differences between blacks and whites go beyond color—it is mostly about how they see themselves. I think that she is saying that if African Americans never stop seeing themselves as poor, they will never stop being poor. Ultimately, what is still keeping them back is not only society; it is also their mentalities. That’s the river that drives a chasm between the two races.
