Poetry in Motion
New York
Coal (an excerpt)
Audre Lorde![A white horizontal poster with a colorful mosaic at the top features an excerpt from the poem, Coal, by Audre Lorde.](https://poetrysociety.org/assets/poetry-in-motion/Audre-Lorde-NYC-Poetry-in-Motion.jpeg)
Coal (an excerpt)
Love is a word, another kind of open.
As the diamond comes
into a knot of flame
I am Black
because I come from the earth's inside
take my word for jewel
in the open light.
"Coal" (excerpt) from Collected Poems by Audre Lorde. Copyright © 1968, 1970, 1973. Reprinted with the permission of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.