“Knoxville Tennessee”
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/knoxville-tennessee/
Nikki Giovanni
The poem evokes powerful imagery of life in the South. The innocence of childhood and time spent with grandparents combines with the imagery of beautiful mountains and heaping piles of delicious Southern cooking with sounds of gospel music in the background. She presents it as if there is nothing better in the world, and it's not hard to believe.
Life in Knoxville, Tennessee couldn't have had better food. There is nothing better in the summer than fresh corn. It is so sweet and full of flavor and can just bring happiness. Homemade ice cream is another southern classic, even if hard to find anymore. I have on occasion gotten to enjoy the purest forms of some of this fine southern cuisine. It's always felt like I'm spending time with a dying generation, the last of a generation of true southern culture. Nikki Giovanni seems to recognize this too. It's not just a yearning for childhood, but a yearning for a time that is quickly fading away. For Giovanni, the food probably doesn't taste like it used to, the gospel isn't as loud and boisterous as it once was, and the family not what it once was. This yearning for things lost is felt by all, but there is something especially poignant in Giovanni’s writing. It's as if she's recalling a warmth that has cooled through her life.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/knoxville-tennessee/
Nikki Giovanni
The poem evokes powerful imagery of life in the South. The innocence of childhood and time spent with grandparents combines with the imagery of beautiful mountains and heaping piles of delicious Southern cooking with sounds of gospel music in the background. She presents it as if there is nothing better in the world, and it's not hard to believe.
Life in Knoxville, Tennessee couldn't have had better food. There is nothing better in the summer than fresh corn. It is so sweet and full of flavor and can just bring happiness. Homemade ice cream is another southern classic, even if hard to find anymore. I have on occasion gotten to enjoy the purest forms of some of this fine southern cuisine. It's always felt like I'm spending time with a dying generation, the last of a generation of true southern culture. Nikki Giovanni seems to recognize this too. It's not just a yearning for childhood, but a yearning for a time that is quickly fading away. For Giovanni, the food probably doesn't taste like it used to, the gospel isn't as loud and boisterous as it once was, and the family not what it once was. This yearning for things lost is felt by all, but there is something especially poignant in Giovanni’s writing. It's as if she's recalling a warmth that has cooled through her life.