Langston Hughes (1902 – 1967) wrote 14 books of poetry, three books of poetry in translation, innumerable plays that have been published in some 11 works, letters, short stories, novels – an incredibly productive and creative career. All of his work, collectively and individually, represent a profound chronicle of African-American life from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Hughes claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg as his primary influences. But there was also jazz, and the streets, and the language and experience of people, especially the African-American people whom he knew and loved so well.

For National Poetry Month, three poems by Langston Hughes.

I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–

I, too, am America.

Night Funeral in Harlem

Night funeral
  In Harlem:

  Where did they get
  Them two fine cars?

Insurance man, he did not pay–
His insurance lapsed the other day–
Yet they got a satin box
for his head to lay.

  Night funeral
  In Harlem:

  Who was it sent
  That wreath of flowers?

Them flowers came
from that poor boy’s friends–
They’ll want flowers, too,
When they meet their ends.

  Night funeral
  in Harlem:

  Who preached that
  Black boy to his grave?

Old preacher man
Preached that boy away–
Charged Five Dollars
His girl friend had to pay.

  Night funeral
  In Harlem:

When it was all over
And the lid shut on his head
and the organ had done played
and the last prayers been said
and six pallbearers
Carried him out for dead
And off down Lenox Avenue
That long black hearse done sped,
  The street light
  At his corner
  Shined just like a tear–
That boy that they was mournin’
Was so dear, so dear
To them folks that brought the flowers,
To that girl who paid the preacher man–
It was all their tears that made
  That poor boy’s
  Funeral grand.

  Night funeral
  In Harlem.

My Theme for English B

The instructor said,

     Go home and write
     a page tonight.
     And let that page come out of you–
     Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me–we two–you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me–who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records–Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?

Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white–
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me–
although you’re older–and white–
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

Related:

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” audio recording by Langston Hughes.

Poetry Giveaway

We have a winner in the TweetSpeak Poetry Giveaway Contest. We had a total of 10 people who left a comment (some multiple times) since April 15. I wrote the names on slips of paper, mixed them up, and pulled out the winner. Karen Eck, aka Phoenix Karenee, will be getting a copy of InsideOut: Poems by L.L. Barkat. Congratulations, Karen, and thanks to all who left a comment.

Postings and News Updates:

Tuesday’s Poem A Day from the Academy of American Poets was “Crannog” by Moya Cannon, taken from The Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry, Vol. 2, published by Wake Forest University Press.