Monday, June 01, 2009

(7x11)
This weekend cleaning out the shed I found a blue and white striped tablecloth. It was densely striped, so I left a lot out here. I wanted just enough to make the cloth make sense. even so, there may be too many!

Just as a follow-up to Walt Whitman, I wanted to share with you this poem by one of my other early favorite poets, Langston Hughes.


I, Too, Sing America
by 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.

And a Hughes poem I memorized some years back
(so I'm not sure I have the line breaks right!):


I play it cool
And dig all jive
And that's the reason
I stay alive

My motto as I live
And learn is
Dig and be dug
in return.

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7 comments:

  1. Laura, this is beautifully luminous. Your lemons are so glowing--I really like the underbellies and their reflective colors. The striped tablecloth is great. Your shed has more interesting things in it than ours does, evidently! Ours has mostly spades, shovels, and old pots in it.

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  2. Thanks for the Langston Hughes. He's one of my favorite poets.

    Your lemons look so fresh on the blue striped table cloth. Nice job!

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  3. Hi Laura,

    Love the painting and the poems.

    You haven't done too many stripes. Just the right amount.

    Take care,

    Barbara

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  4. I agree -- the stripes are exactly right. And so are the poems.

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  5. This is clean and lovely. Thanks for your good advice to change a painting only if something really bothers...one of the things that make yours so fresh, and something I need to carve in stone! Wonderful poetry.

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  6. This one jumped out of the page at me - i very much like...
    It's great to be back and see your output.
    Take care
    Peter

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