I would like to end with two poems.
The one has become something of a signature poem,
and that it's probably my best known poem.
It has been recorded by three different groups that I know of.
I mean, they're very different records, which
is always interesting to me.
And if I can't find it, I do know it.
So there you are.
Well, I can't, but this is a poem
about-- this is a fun poem because poetry can be fun.
Lots of serious stuff is funny, you know?
Richard Pryor proved that.
I have a poem that says the difference between Richard
Pryor and Eddie Murphy--
this is some more [INAUDIBLE].
Richard Pryor-- what is it?
Rich is an old--
no.
Eddie, he a young guy.
He think everything's funny.
Richard, he's been around a long time.
He know ain't nothing, really.
[LAUGHTER]
I think that's probably true.
The first one is the poem that people know me by,
and it is called "Homage to My Hips."
And it is kind of-- it's a reclaiming of this culture which
likes big stuff except for women.
[LAUGHTER]
You know what I mean?
Some of you know what I mean.
We like big houses, big cars, big TVs, teeny little women.
[LAUGHTER]
I like to think of myself as a luxury-sized woman.
[LAUGHTER]
I am expensive.
[LAUGHTER]
And all like that.
And so this poem is fun, but this is also serious.
If I know it.
Let's see.
Oh, yes.
"Homage to My Hips."
"These hips are big hips.
They need space to move around in.
They don't fit into little petty places.
These hips are free hips.
They don't like to be held back.
These hips have never been enslaved.
They go where they want to go.
They do what they want to do.
These hips are magic hips.
These hips are mighty hips.
I have known them to put a spell on a man
and to spin him like a top."
[APPLAUSE]