module 3 LISTENING COMMUNICATION Listen to this poem by Audre Lorde about adolescence and complete the blank spaces with the missing words. Audre Geraldine Lorde (1934-1992) was a multi-talented writer, educator and activist. She described herself as a black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet . She was born in New York City to West Indian parents. In addition to numerous volumes of poetry, Lorde published four volumes of prose. In the 1980s, she and writer Barbara Smith founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. Lorde was Poet Laureate of New York from 1991-92. She died of cancer in 1992 after a 14-year struggle. The poem that follows was published in The Black Unicorn (1978). HANGING FIRE I am fourteen There is (6) ............................... and my (1) ............................... has betrayed me I want to do the boy I cannot live without and too much still sucks his thumb that has to be done in secret and momma s in the bedroom how come my (2) ............................... are with the door closed. always so ashy what if I die Nobody even stops to think before the (3) ............................... comes about my (7) ............................... of it and momma s in the bedroom I should have been on Math Team with the door closed. my (8) ............................... were better than his Audre Lorde why do I have to be I have to learn how to dance the one in time for the next (4) ............................... wearing braces my room is too small for me I have nothing to (9) ............................... tomorrow suppose I die before graduation will I live long enough they will sing sad melodies to (10) ............................... but finally and momma s in the bedroom tell the (5) ............................... about me with the door closed. Now listen again and answer the following questions. a. Where in the poem do you understand that the girl is worried about her body image? b. What else is she worried about? c. Which lines express the girl s anxiety and fear about the future? d. Where does she mention school and why? e. What do the lines and momma s in the bedroom with the door closed mean to you? 130