Named
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Named Author(s): Toi Derricotte Source: The Iowa Review, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp. 52-53 Published by: University of Iowa Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20154252 . Accessed: 13/06/2014 00:10 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . University of Iowa is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Iowa Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.44.78.76 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:10:20 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
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NamedAuthor(s): Toi DerricotteSource: The Iowa Review, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp. 52-53Published by: University of IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20154252 .
Accessed: 13/06/2014 00:10
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
University of Iowa is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Iowa Review.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 185.44.78.76 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:10:20 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Toi Derricotte
Named
"My father puts the
hairbrush up my butt."
Words, words the
hated inseparable words immerse me in
the sewer hole
of hate. I am
sick. I am nothing but
some flying nameless
sack that
catches & fills
with words, words like
"the hairbrush up my
butt." They hurt. I don't
remember. It just was. It
was nothing. Words are the
context of a feeling, a
city made of
words that I un
do by words' brutality, or
do I do it, putting
This content downloaded from 185.44.78.76 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:10:20 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
myself on top of the
hairbrush? Is it a
dirty feeling? Is it a torn feeling? Is it
electric? I can't see my
father's face. Could this be
the grain of his terror
before I felt
my own? Perhaps
we were all raped. Initiation
into humanity?the
hairbrush up your butt.
Shoe Repair Business
"This shoe is shiny as a nigger's heel," his
customer burst out
approvingly; then, remembering the owner is black, he
tactfully appends, "I mean
shiny as a Negro's heel!"
53
This content downloaded from 185.44.78.76 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:10:20 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
