I, Too, Am Jumping on the Bandwagon

With this post, I hereby join the many writers participating in Poetry Friday, in which they highlight this important art form each week on their blogs.

Previously I established that I haven't a poetic bone in my body, so I'll be borrowing from the greats.

What better title for my first entry than "I, Too"? Written by Langston Hughes, it is a wonderful example (as is so much of his work) of poetry as social commentary. My senior year in high school, I wrote a comparative essay using several of Mr. Hughes' poems, and he has ever since been a favorite of mine.

I, Too
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.