Movement in Black

This is the new, expanded edition of a groundbreaking volume of poetry first published in 1978, 11 years before Parker's early death of breast cancer. Based in the Bay Area and steeped in the radical politics of the late 1960s, Parker was the contemporary of Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka. In her introduction, Cheryl Clarke identifies Parker as a "lead voice and caller" in the lesbian-feminist cultural scene, but chides her for careless editing, as if Parker feared that her vernacular poems would lose their power if she subjected them to cold critique. Her most potent works do rely on an inspired punch line rather than carefully plumed images or language, as in "For Willyce," when she describes making love to a woman:

and your sounds drift down
oh god!
oh jesus!
and i think
here it is, some dude's
getting credit for what
a woman
has done
again.

A distinguished collection, including previously unpublished work and tributes from many of Parker's friends and allies. --Regina Marler