these hips are big hips.
they need space to
move around in.
they don’t fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don’t like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top

Analysis, meaning and summary of Lucille Clifton's poem Homage to My Hips

1 Comment

  1. REVOCATUS KASHAGA says:

    i would like to contribute my idea on the repetition technique as applied by the poet! lines 1,5,11,12 the poet has repeated some words,this helps us to catch and understand the nature and type of hips,infact it will be hard to forget exactly what “these hips are”
    also lines(9-10) suggest that these hips refer to the whole person because it is hard to imagine the hips moving around without taking the rest of the woman along with.

Leave a Reply to REVOCATUS KASHAGA Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Lucille Clifton better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.