Is it an outward express of classism, somehow? There aren't a lot of shades of white/pink/beige/pale, but boy howdy, there's the trailer trash and everyone else.

Gar, it's not Human Family is it? [link]

The one that I think is quite beautiful, but thematically totally different is Passing Time [link]

Both those poems are beautiful, but not the one I heard. Again it specifically listed ways to describe various skin shade. I wonder this was hers or if she was reading someone else's poem?

Yeah, I see a passing reference to both Angelou and a poem that could be that one in jstor, but I no longer have jstor access. Though I could check when i'm on campus tomorrow.

Oh if you would that would be very nice - if you have time. I mean obviously no medical consequences will happen if I never learn the name of the poem, but not knowing kind of - itches, if that makes sense.

Alice Walker writes poems, too...it could be something of hers. Unless you've confirmed it's Angelou of course.

Well I hear Angelou read it. But she read most her own poems on that interview, but some other people's too. So it was not neccessarily hers. Though I'm guessing if not her, someone not on the same level of famous.

Typo, the Jstor article doesn't have the poem or the title and in fact talks about the skin color thing in only the broadest terms. I might assume it's someone else's poems.

Probably right. And my googlefu does not seem to be up to this.

I have finished Moby Dick.

The story is ripe for a new film version. When Ishmael was describing what Ahab saw the first time they lost Moby (the white speck coming up from the blue resolving into the gaping jaws) it was in technicolor in my head.

I forget which movie version I've seen but they took Fedalla's death and gave it to Ahab. The way Ahab dies in the book would look so much better on screen.

And if you cut out all the stuff about whales and whaling you could easily bring it in at 90 minutes.