Two Colors | Teen Ink

Two Colors

June 14, 2013
By APencilandPaper BRONZE, Boston, Massachusetts
APencilandPaper BRONZE, Boston, Massachusetts
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
I still can&#039;t see, why Democracy means, everybody but me. <br /> -Langston Hughes


Two colors;
Black.
White.
I'm almost beginning to think no other colors exist.
Because see I live in a world where no one mentions red, green, yellow, or blue,
You're black or white.
I have to think before I take a drink from a water fountain,
Shame.
Now things that you use are known by your name,
And that's black,
or white.
We're separate.
When my daughter asks me: "You wash the white clothes first and wash the rest later right?"
I almost want to hit her and yell: "Don't you let those words come out your mouth again!"
Then I realize that mixing the two would cause disaster,
And that's just the reality of it.
Of life.
Because see I live in a world where no one mentions red, green, yellow, or blue,
We're black
They're white.


The author's comments:
I'm inspired by the amazing work of Langston Hughes and chose to write this poem in the voice of a well off African- American woman of the 1950's. I wanted to capture the perspective of an African-American living during a very segregated time period as Langston Hughes did in his poems "Children's Rhymes", "Let America be America Again", "Merry-Go-Round", and several others. I hope you enjoy this.

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