“With stately step now autumn comes, / Queenly in her proud career, / With garland decked in ripened fruits, / Comes to crown the bounteous year.” — Horace Beriah Chamberlain (1834-1861; photographed poem w/ permission from the Library of Congress [LOC], Washington, D.C.)

“For I am rightful fellow of their band. / My best allegiances are to the dead.” — Gwendolyn Brooks

“but I saw the Darkness / And I am the Darkness.” — Nikki Giovanni (June 7, 1943-December 9, 2024)