Langston

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Poetry Off the Shelf. The topic was poems inspired by jazz and blues, so they spent quite a while talking about Langston Hughes. Hughes mostly focused on the daily life and thoughts of blacks in 1920s Harlem. His poems tackled racism, poverty, and segregation at the very dawn of the civil rights movement. They are still powerful, and often quoted during Black History Month, or recited at protest rallies.

I'll be one of the first to tell you how groundbreaking "I, Too" was, but I also love this poem. :)

"Morning After"
by Langston Hughes

I was so sick last night I
Didn’t hardly know my mind.
So sick last night I
Didn’t know my mind.
I drunk some bad licker that
Almost made me blind.

Had a dream last night I
Thought I was in hell.
I drempt last night I
Thought I was in hell.
Woke up and looked around me—
Babe, your mouth was open like a well.

I said, Baby! Baby!
Please don’t snore so loud.
Baby! Please!
Please don’t snore so loud.
You jest a little bit o’ woman but you
Sound like a great big crowd.