Poem of the month: Mother to Son
April’s poem is by Langston Hughes.
On the first of every month, I send a poem to a random, and ever-expanding, group of past and present colleagues. I’ve been doing it for about 16 years.
This month’s is Mother to Son, by Langston Hughes.
I mostly know the name Langston Hughes because he was mentioned as a Beat writer from time to time. He had a tough time of it really: racism, McCarthyism, and probably a life lived in the closet. I don’t know much of his work, but I love the line “life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”. Crystal Stair is a great name for something.
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
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