BOOK: “The Negro Mother: And Other Dramatic Recitations” by Langston Hughes

The Negro Mother: And Other Dramatic RecitationsThe Negro Mother: And Other Dramatic Recitations by Langston Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Google Books Site

This short volume consists of just five intermediate length lyric poems. The poems included are: “The Coloured Soldier,” “Broke,” “The Big-Timer,” “The Negro Mother,” and “Dark Youth of the USA.”

This collection stands out from Hughes’ others. Each poem is a character sketch, a snapshot of tribulations suffered by black Americans in Hughes’ day (published in 1931.) The poems are longer and more biographic than most of Hughes’ work.

This is a powerful collection of poems, and I’d highly recommend it for poetry readers.

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DAILY PHOTO: Jungle Road

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Photograph of a small road, guardrails encased in moss, in the Dow Hill area of Kurseong, West Bengal.

PROMPT: Worst Travel Experience

What’s the worst travel experience you’ve ever had?

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My “worst travel experience” is like my “worst sexual experience;” it still beats the hell out of sitting at home alone on the couch. (Also, worst travel experiences make the best travel stories — given enough distance in the rearview to see the humor.)

DAILY PHOTO: Balinese Temple Guardian

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Photograph of a temple guardian statue taken on Bali in Indonesia.

PROMPT: Travel Advice

What’s one piece of travel advice you always follow?

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入乡随俗 — i.e. “enter the village, follow the customs.”

DAILY PHOTO: Stone Mountain Across the Lake

PROMPT: Videogame

What was your first ever videogame?

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Pong. Before that they were just games, sans the “video.”

DAILY PHOTO: Lakeshore

PROMPT: Personal Goals

Do you set personal goals for yourself?

It’s better than having them set for me… and also better than having to set personnel goals.

Last Green Days [Haiku]

early autumn,
color shift begins —
green days numbered.