Theme for English B

I figured with my last post, Some Days that a few people would know whom I was speaking of right of the bat, and some that wouldn't, but was even more surprised and flattered when someone else thought I was talking about myself. However, the person that I was referring to was none other than the Poet Laureate himself, Mr. Langston Hughes. I have been a fan of his poetry and his writings since I was a kid. He was sort of an accidental discovery, but one that inspired me to one day become a great writer, which is still a work in progress.

It had to be in middle school, but during one of those English classes where we were reading the chapters aloud, I had read ahead (mainly out of boredom, but also sheer disgust that she picked yet another classmate that read slower than molasses, "the word is THE, damnit!")and started flipping thru the book, and found that there was a poetry section towards the back. I read a few of them, and although all of them were good, there was only one that stood out in my mind called, Theme For English B. I think more so, because it was apparent that the person that wrote it, this Langston Hughes was a Black man. Wanting to know more I used my next chance to go to the Library (it was the early 90's, so no damn internet)and find out about Mr. Hughes. From the moment I started researching him, I knew this was someone that I would always want to learn about, and thru the years, epsecially now that I am an adult and a few other things have come to light, I now know that it was not only the poetry, the writings, the interesting life, but a few other things that drew me to Langston in the first place. I also fell in love with the time period that he lived in. If there was ever a time in history I could travel back to, it would be during the Harlem Renaissance.

To this day, my favorite poem by Langston Hughes is:

Harlem Sweeties

Have you dug the spill
Of Sugar Hill?
Cast your gims
On this sepia thrill:
Brown sugar lassie,
Caramel treat,
Honey-gold baby
Sweet enough to eat.
Peach-skinned girlie,
Coffee and cream,
Chocolate darling
Out of a dream.
Walnut tinted
Or cocoa brown,
Pomegranate-lipped
Pride of the town.
Rich cream-colored
To plum-tinted black,
Feminine sweetness
In Harlem’s no lack.
Glow of the quince
To blush of the rose.
Persimmon bronze
To cinnamon toes.
Blackberry cordial,
Virginia Dare wine—
All those sweet colors
Flavor Harlem of mine!
Walnut or cocoa,
Let me repeat:
Caramel, brown sugar,
A chocolate treat.
Molasses taffy,
Coffee and cream,
Licorice, clove, cinnamon
To a honey-brown dream.
Ginger, wine-gold,
Persimmon, blackberry,
All through the spectrum
Harlem girls vary—
So if you want to know beauty’s
Rainbow-sweet thrill,
Stroll down luscious,
Delicious, fine Sugar Hill.