A Poem for a Thursday #279

It took me forever to pick a poem to feature today. Partly because I am ridiculously indecisive at times and partly because I have featured almost 300 poems and I can’t remember what I have used and what I haven’t. After a quick search, I found that Langston Hughes only appears once in this series. That is a bit of a crime. Let’s remedy that immediately.

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
l'se still climbin,
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Mother to Son
Langston Hughes