Ulises MendezENL 3, SQ 2014CRA 2Tim KreinerAudre Lorde's Analysis of "Coal"Audre Lorde's poem has a very unique and intriguing name: "coal." Coal is the most widely used fossil fuel for energy production. Likewise, it is made of the same stuff as diamonds (which are an important metaphor throughout the poem), but the two are surprisingly different physically. However, it is imperative to note that the coal and the speaker of the poem are the same color: black. The speaker, likely Lorde herself, addresses the obstacles faced by the black community and, more importantly, herself. Nonetheless, it is this prominent darkness, something so natural to which society has assigned negative connotations and labels, that empowers her and allows her to seek out who she truly is as a person despite norms and expectations. of society. Lorde's poem is broken down. in three stanzas, each corresponding to a distinct aspect of his life. The first stanza corresponds to his race; the second stanza corresponds to the trials she faces; the third stanza corresponds to his personal and intimate life. As stated previously, the first stanza of the poem coincides with the race and identity of the speaker. In her first and second lines, Lorde loosely associates herself with the rest of the black community, declaring that she "is the total black" (2). However, the physical separation of "I" from "total black" parallels Lorde's own separation from other members of the black community. She claims that she comes "from within the earth", which reflects the repression of the black community by the rest of the world, particularly American society. In line 4, it is important to note Lorde's purpose of the word "open", "There are many kinds of open"; it refers to what is known...... middle of paper ...... ", ready to come out at any moment and kill their prey (16-17). On the other hand, it there are those who wait for the right moment to "burst through [her] lips" and when they do, she will be "like young sparrows coming out of their shell": with her mouth wide open, letting everyone know what she feels and thinks (19-20) Finally, Lorde concludes the stanza by stating that there are words that she simply does not understand that torment her, which ties in with the first line of the next and final stanza. . In the final stanza of the poem, Lorde begins with “love is a word, an open one” (23). something that is undoubtedly well defined, we see that it is in fact not due to his later use of punctuation after "open", which had not been done in his previous speech. uses of the word.