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Poetry Scramble

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One Way Ticket

Langston Hughes

I pick up my life,
And take it with me,
And I put it down in
Chicago, Detroit,
Buffalo, Scranton,
Any place that is
North and East,
And not Dixie.
I pick up my life
And take it on the train,
To Los Angeles, Bakersfield,
Seattle, Oakland, Salt Lake
Any place that is
North and West,
And not South.
I am fed up
With Jim Crow laws,
People who are cruel
And afraid,
Who lynch and run,
Who are scared of me
And me of them
I pick up my life
And take it away
On a one-way ticket-
Gone up North
Gone out West
Gone
Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was a prominent African American author, as well as a contemporary of Jacob Lawrence. Hughes gained recognition during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. In his writings, Hughes focused on the experiences of working-class African Americans in Harlem and addressed contemporary social and political circumstances, such as segregation and urban life.

Hughes and Lawrence got to know each other at the end of 1947; Hughes’s volume of poetry entitled One-Way Ticket included six drawings by Lawrence, which he personally commissioned. Just as Hughes captured African American experiences through language, Lawrence captured them through color, line, and form.

I, too, sing America

Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

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.
Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was a prominent African American author, as well as a contemporary of Jacob Lawrence. Hughes gained recognition during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. In his writings, Hughes focused on the experiences of working-class African Americans in Harlem and addressed contemporary social and political circumstances, such as segregation and urban life.

Hughes and Lawrence got to know each other at the end of 1947; Hughes’s volume of poetry entitled One-Way Ticket included six drawings by Lawrence, which he personally commissioned. Just as Hughes captured African American experiences through language, Lawrence captured them through color, line, and form.

Homesick Blues

Langston Hughes

De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
Ever time de trains pass
I wants to go somewhere.

I went down to de station.
Ma heart was in ma mouth.
Went down to de station.
Heart was in ma mouth.
Lookin' for a box car
To roll me to de South.

Homesick blues, Lawd,
'S a terrible thing to have.
Homesick blues is
A terrible thing to have.
To keep from cryin'
I opens ma mouth an' laughs.
Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was a prominent African American author, as well as a contemporary of Jacob Lawrence. Hughes gained recognition during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. In his writings, Hughes focused on the experiences of working-class African Americans in Harlem and addressed contemporary social and political circumstances, such as segregation and urban life.

Hughes and Lawrence got to know each other at the end of 1947; Hughes’s volume of poetry entitled One-Way Ticket included six drawings by Lawrence, which he personally commissioned. Just as Hughes captured African American experiences through language, Lawrence captured them through color, line, and form.

If We Must Die

Claude McKay

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Claude McKay

Claude McKay (1889-1948) was a Jamaican poet and novelist who came to the United States and spent time in Harlem. He wrote about life in both Jamaica and the US, and his encounters with racism influenced his work. Among McKay’s most well-known works are his volume of poetry Harlem Shadows (1922) and novel Home to Harlem (1928), which focuses on the experience of African American city life.

While in Harlem, McKay visited Charles Alston’s “306” studio during the 1930s, a hotbed of artistic and intellectual activity where Jacob Lawrence was a student. In 1940, Lawrence received a grant from the Rosenwald Fund, which enabled him to rent a room at 33 West 125th Street. McKay also occupied space within this building, and he became a mentor and friend to the young artist.

The tropics in New York

Claude McKay

Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,
      Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,
And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
      Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,

Set in the window, bringing memories
      Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,
And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies
      In benediction over nun-like hills.

My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;
      A wave of longing through my body swept,
And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,
      I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.
Claude McKay

Claude McKay (1889-1948) was a Jamaican poet and novelist who came to the United States and spent time in Harlem. He wrote about life in both Jamaica and the US, and his encounters with racism influenced his work. Among McKay’s most well-known works are his volume of poetry Harlem Shadows (1922) and novel Home to Harlem (1928), which focuses on the experience of African American city life.

While in Harlem, McKay visited Charles Alston’s “306” studio during the 1930s, a hotbed of artistic and intellectual activity where Jacob Lawrence was a student. In 1940, Lawrence received a grant from the Rosenwald Fund, which enabled him to rent a room at 33 West 125th Street. McKay also occupied space within this building, and he became a mentor and friend to the young artist.

They Left him hanging

Katherine Garrison Chapin

They left him hanging for the world to pass by,
But a bloody sun will rise in a bloody sky,
A bloody sun will shine across this sand,
And a long dark shadow will fall on the land.
Cut him down from the gallows tree!
Cut him down for the world to see!
Talk of justice and take your stand,
But a long dark shadow will fall across your land;
A long dark shadow, a long dark shadow,
An evil shadow will defame your land,
A long dark shadow will fall across your land!
Katherine Garrison Chapin signature

Katherine Chapin (1890-1977) was an author, poet, and playwright who also studied music and acting. She was married to Francis Biddle, who was attorney general of the United States from 1942-45. Chapin was among the first Fellows in American Letters at the Library of Congress. 

Chapin addressed some of the same subjects as Jacob Lawrence in her work, including lynching. In her poem “And They Lynched Him on a Tree,” which appears in the volume Plain-Chant for America and later set to music by William Grant Still, Chapin examines the lynching of a black man. She was also acquainted with numerous prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes and Alain Locke, who were in turn acquainted with Jacob Lawrence.

Get inspired by the art and life of Jacob Lawrence and use the words of the great Harlem Renaissance poets and writers to create your own poem.

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