The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes

The Poetry Spot

A snapshot review of a book related to the Non-fiction Feature

Also in Bulletin #44:
The Non-fiction Feature: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Product Spot: PBS – Slavery by Another Name (film)

The Pithy Take

Poet Langston Hughes–who was also an activist, novelist, and playwright–lived during the Great Migration. He is famously known as one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Missouri and raised in Midwestern towns, a significant portion of Hughes’ work captures the painful act of relocation.

The loneliness, the fear, the dreams, and the hopes, of one of the most remarkable phenomena of the 20th century. The compilation of poems, carefully curated by editor Arnold Rampersad and associate editor David Roessel, is a beautiful walk through the mind of one of America’s greatest poets.

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.