Episode 44: Theme for English B by Langston Hughes

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"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes

The instructor said,

Go home and write
 a page tonight.
 And let that page come out of you—
 Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it’s that simple?
 I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
 I went to school there, then Durham, then here
 to this college on the hill above Harlem.
 I am the only colored student in my class.
 The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
 through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
 Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
 the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
 up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
 at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
 I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
 hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.
 (I hear New York, too.) Me—who?
 Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
 I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
 I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
 or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach.
 I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
 the same things other folks like who are other races.
 So will my page be colored that I write?

Being me, it will not be white.
 But it will be
 a part of you, instructor.
 You are white—
 yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
 That’s American.
 Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
 Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
 But we are, that’s true!
 As I learn from you,
 I guess you learn from me—
 although you’re older—and white—
 and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.