This week: Langston Hughes Edited by: stormyrene
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| This is poetry from the minds and the hearts of poets on Writing.Com. The poems I am going to be exposing throughout this newsletter are ones that I have found to be, very visual, mood setting and uniquely done. |
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Life Is Fine
by Langston Hughes
I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.
I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.
But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!
I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.
But it was High up there! It was high!
So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!
On February 1, 1901 in Joplin Mississippi, James Nathaniel Hughes and Caroline Langston welcomed their second son James Langston Hughes into the world. Caroline was a school teacher. His father left the family shortly after Hughes was born, he tried finding refuge in Mexico from the ongoing racism in the United States. After the divorce Hughes’ mother moved around from town to town looking for work. Hughes ended up living with his grandmother in Kansas most of his childhood. Once a teenager Hughes moved back in with his mother and her new husband. The family lived in Fairfax Ohio, and Hughes attended Central High School. After graduating high school Hughes reached out to his father and the two came to a compromise about his father paying for college. Hughes would go to Columbia University to study engineering.
Hughes finished his first year of college but left during his second year due to racial uncertainty in the school between students and staff. Hughes continued his writing. Hughes travelled abroad and took on several odd jobs over the next three years before returning to the United States to live with his mother. After working a few jobs upon his return to the states Hughes decided to go back to college and enrolled in Lincoln University in Chester County Pennsylvania. He graduated with B.A. in 1929 and returned to live in Harlem. Hughes enjoyed the night life, the blues and jazz clubs helped him write. His first published poem was ”The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” was also one of his most famous poems.
Hughes wrote sixteen books of poems between 1926 and 1967. He also wrote two novels, three collections of short stories, twenty plays. Along with writing several scripts for radio and television. Some of his works were: Not Without Laughter, published in 1930, The Big Sea published in 1940 and I Wonder as I Wander published in 1956. Some of his most recognized poetry included The Weary Blues published in 1926; The Dream Keeper in 1932; Shakespeare In Harlem in 1942; Fields of Wonder in 1947; One Way Ticket in 1947; The First Book of Jazz in 1955 and Selected Poems in 1959.
Hughes wrote all the way up to his death. He battled prostate cancer towards the end of his life and underwent surgery as part of his treatment. Hughes ended up dying from post surgery complications. James Langston Hughes died on May 22, 1967, in the Stuyvesant Polyclinic in New York City at the age of 66. Posthumously publications included: Five Plays By Langston Hughes in 1968, The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times in 1969.
Still Here by
Langston Hughes
I been scared and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,
Looks like between 'em they done
Tried to make me
Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--
But I don't care!
I'm still here!
Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Thank you all!
stormyrene
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The winner of "Stormy's poetry newsletter & contest" [ASR] is:
"I don't think you should get that far
from the buoy, a storms coming in."
"Don't worry, I know how to sail",
He said, with a lopsided grin.
"I don't know, the waves are higher,"
She said, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Ah, you just worry for nothing,"
He said, as he looked at the sky.
Now adrift, far out in the sea,
Lightening, thunder, and rolling waves,
Tossed them around, from side to side,
She cried, "We will go to our graves."
"You are right," he quietly said.
"I fear we are lost here at sea."
"I've no idea where we are,
I was wrong, it was foolish of me."
Then the sail came crashing downward,
The boat gave a lurch to the side,
"I fear we won't see the port again,"
She said, as she broke down and cried.
"If we could just see the lighthouse,
I think we've have a fighting chance,
But the rain and fog are so thick,
It's a terrible circumstance."
"Waves are splashing into the boat,
If we could make it through the night,
We might be able to survive,
Until the warm morning sunlight".
A man was walking on the beach,
And stopped in shock at what he saw,
A broken boat with trailing mast,
He turned and ran to make a call.
The sirens sounded through the town,
Familiar call, they knew it well,
It brought a sense of dread to them,
The ringing of the bells death knell.
They all pitched in, the boats went out,
Nothing was found, nothing in sight,
With saddened spirit, home they came.
Two lives were lost that raging night,
Honorable mention:
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Poetry: December 02, 2020 Issue [#10500]
Good luck to all 
