Lucille Clifton Biography Lucille Clifton (1936-2010), a three-time Pulitzer nominee and winner of the National Book Award in 2000 for Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, was the author of more than twenty collections of poetry and children’s books. See Work POETRY / Autumn 1982 My Dream About the Inevitability of the Second Coming By Lucille Clifton mary is an old woman without shoes.she doesn’t believe it.not when her belly starts to bubble