Friday, February 03, 2017

Poetry Friday: Langston Hughes



"Then let us hurry, comrades, the road to find." 

I look at the world
by Langston Hughes

I look at the world
From awakening eyes in a black face—
And this is what I see:

(Read the poem here, at The Poetry Foundation.)

~~~~~



(photo: Library of Congress)

10 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

I think the word "comrade" is so friendly in this respect -- in the time period in which he wrote this, it had begun to have other meanings/implications.

jama said...

Powerful and moving poem, Karen. Such dark times.

Karen Edmisten said...

I agree -- very true, Tanita.
Jama, yes. Hughes never fails to move me.

Kay said...

Thank you for sharing such a powerful poem and reminder that we can reshape our world despite limitations others may try to force on us.

Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca said...

Such a necessary reminder in these dark and confusing times.

Linda B said...

It's a beautiful poem, yet saddens me that it was written so long ago, and I thought we had passed that time.

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

I like the quality of hope in "my own hands can make/ The world that's in my mind." We can each of us make a world where our values mean something. Regardless of Facebook declaring privacy is dead and Trump and Conway holding a funeral for truth.

Ruth said...

I'm reading Langston Hughes poems with my eighth graders next week. Thanks for sharing this.

Mary Lee said...

Did you see that The NY Times printed one of his poems full page?

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/insider/3-questions-langston-hughes-poem-anchors-entire-page.html?_r=0

Penny Parker Klostermann said...

Thanks for sharing the Langston Hughes poem. Happy Poetry Friday (a little late!).