^ My favorite lines are "I don't want [...] the heaven you held to my feet like fire" ... and of course the great descriptions of mating snakes!
Today while volunteering in my child's classroom, I read a short volume of children's poetry written by Langston Hughes. I was curious to read the book because I was familiar with little of his poetry. Most of the poems in the book were not memorable to me, but I liked a few, especially the one below:
Merry-Go-Round by Langston Hughes
COLORED CHILD AT CARNIVAL
Where is the Jim Crow section
On this merry-go-round,
Mister, cause I want to ride?
Down South where I come from
White and colored
Can't sit side by side.
Down South on the train
There's a Jim Crow car.
On the bus we're put in the back--
But there ain't no back
To a merry-go-round!
Where's the horse
For a kid that's black?
Merry-Go-Round - A poem by Langston Hughes - American Poems