Lucille Clifton’s memoir

 One of the preoccupations of this collection of notes is the “one-night read,” a piece that can be read in an evening.

The poet Lucille Clifton’s Generations: A Memoir is about 50 pages in my edition. It traces the generations from the poet’s ancestor Caroline, who was born free in Africa. When she was 8, Caroline was captured with her sister and mother and brought to New Orleans. They walked to Virginia, where they were split up and sold. The sisters, who ended up on neighboring farms, never saw their mother again.

That story, which occurred in 1830, is behind the others. One event had consequences for generations.

• Source: lucille clifton, good woman: poems and a memoir 1969-1980; Rochester, N.Y.: BOA Editions, Ltd., 1987.