Mother to Son
by Langston Hughes
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' landins's,
And turnin' corners,
And s ometimes 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's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Saltman, Judith, editor. 1985. The Riverside Anthology of Children's Literature, sixth edition. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 039535773X.
_____________________________________
Extension
Ask the children to think about what their parents might want them to most know about life.
Throw out some ideas of your own to get them started. Have them write a line or two on paper or share them as a class.
You could also talk about why this mother wanted her son to know the things in this poem - what was she trying to tell him
or prepare him for?
