Source Poems: "Mother to Son"

For National Poetry Month 2014, I have invited 17 authors and poets to guest post about source poems. In this series of essays, each writer will describe a single poem's significance in his or her life.

Our guest blogger for today's source poem is poet and children's author Jacqueline Jules.

Jacqueline Jules

MOTHER TO SON

by LangstonHughes

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’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.

Langston Hughes, “Mother to Son” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1994 by The Estate of Langston Hughes. Reprinted with the permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated. Source: The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Vintage Books, 1994)

Located at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177021

My Ethical Will: “Mother to Son”

by Jacqueline Jules

“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes comes as close to an ethical will as I could ever write to my own sons and grandchildren. Life may sparkle brilliantly at times, but it is not a crystal staircase. Instead of shining steps transparently waiting to lead us to our dreams, we must face tacks, splinters, and “boards torn up.”

My work as an author and a poet has been fraught with as much rejection as success. This year I had two picture books published. NeverSay a Mean Word Again took 16 years from idea to publication. What a Way to Start a New Year required 24 years. In June, Stronger Than Cleopatra, a poetry chapbook I’ve been working on for 20 years, will finally be made available to readers through ELJ Publications. I am intimately familiar with “reachin’ landin’s,” “turnin’ corners,” and “a-climbin’ on.” Rejection is a part of a writer’s life and choosing to sit down every time it happens means being stuck on a rotting staircase with your head in your hands.

This is not to say I haven’t been tripped by other things. Grief has certainly tempted me to sit down on too many occasions. I lost my first husband when I was 37 years old. My parents died nine months apart. Less than two years ago, I watched my only sister painfully succumb to a debilitating genetic disease at the same time another family member was diagnosed with cancer. Sometimes I question my ability to handle what may lie ahead. The height of the staircase is daunting. It offers no view of how many steps must be climbed before the next landing. And if I feel weak and lean too hard on the rail, it sways.

Perseverance, as portrayed so eloquently in “Mother to Son,” has redeeming power. To keep “a-climbing on” and “turnin’ corners,” even when it means “goin’ in the dark” is to recognize that better alternatives do not exist. The narrator in this poem provides both a courageous model and a challenge. If she keeps climbing when her life hasn’t been “a crystal stair,” then her son can face disappointments, too. A parent with a stubborn streak is a powerful inspiration. The voice in my head that keeps me moving when I’d rather collapse often sounds exactly like my father’s.  

The staircase beckons, even when there are “places with no carpet on the floor.” Our job in life is to keep climbing. To accept that life is supposed to be meaningful, not easy. 

And when I reach my final landing, I hope it will be said that I always had the courage to follow the sage advice Langston Hughes offers in “Mother to Son.”

Jacqueline Jules is the author of the poetry chapbooks, Field Trip to the Museum, coming in March from Finishing Line Press, and Stronger Than Cleopatra, coming in June from ELJ publications. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications including Inkwell, Soundings Review, The Innisfree Poetry Journal, Potomac Review, Minimus, Imitation Fruit, Calyx, Connecticut River Review, and Pirene's Fountain. She is also the author of two dozen books for young readers including the Zapato Power series, No English, Sarah Laughs, and Never Say a Mean Word Again. Visit her online at www.jacquelinejules.com

Thank you for sharing your personal connection to this poem, Jacqueline. The stories that we have been telling in connection with source poems have made this a powerful National Poetry Month series.

Here is a word animation with a dramatic reading of Jacqueline's source poem, "Mother to Son":

Previous posts in this series:

Laura Shovan on "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams

Dylan Bargteil on "On Moral Leadership as a Political Dilemma" by June Jordan

J. C. Elkin on "Hannibal Clim" (author unknown)

Diane Mayr on a haiku by Basho

Jone MacCulloch on "We Are Waiting (a pantoum)" by Joyce Sidman

Mary Bargteil on Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot

Poetry Friday: Writing about Difficult Subjects

What is the job of a poet? Let's look at the darker side of this issue for this week's Poetry Friday post.

Many years ago, I participated in a group reading event with poet Lucille Clifton. At the time, the self-help book and movie The Secret was in its heyday. I'm over-simplifying when I say that The Secret advises reader/viewers not to see the things they don't want to "attract" to themselves.

If you want to be thin, the film says, don't focus on people who are overweight or think too much about how rich foods make you fat. If the evening news makes you worry about violence, choose not to watch it, or you might be attracting that violence into your own life.

"The Law of Attraction" says thinking acts like a magnet.
Negative thoughts attract negativity into our lives.
Positive thoughts bring us good things.

Clifton addressed this issue at the reading. She said that poets should not look away from what's uncomfortable or upsetting. It is our job, she advised, to bear witness to life and events that are difficult. If we don't talk about them, who will? In doing so, we poets set the stage for change -- or, at least, for conversation.

Poet Jacqueline Jules (Zapato Power) recently contacted me. I'll explain the connection in a second.

Jacqueline is an accomplished children's author. You'll find her list of over a dozen books at her website. But Jacqueline also writes poetry for adults. She had a poem published at the online literary journal rkvry quarterly. The theme of the current issue is sexuality. Jacqueline's poem addresses the difficult subject of childhood sexual abuse.

Jacqueline invited me to interview her regarding that poem. Such interviews are a special feature at rkvry. I like the way these discussions between poet and guest interviewer provide additional insights into the poem and continues the conversation between poet and reader. You can check out my conversation with Jacqueline at rkvry.

Her poem is titled "The Stick in the Big Boy's Hand."

The Stick in the Big Boy's Hand
by Jacqueline Jules

I saw my little sister go next door
with the neighbor boy.
White sandals on her small feet,
short pink socks with frilly lace cuffs,
and blue flowered shorts
matching a cotton button-down shirt.
Mama always dressed us nice, even to play outside
on a slick June morning, two days into summer vacation.

Wet blades squeaked beneath my shoes
as I followed up the hill. Reaching the crest,
I thought, at first, she’d slipped,
seeing her prone in the dew,
her cheek pressed into the long grass

Read the rest of the poem at rkvry quarterly.

And here is a poem dealing with childhood sexual abuse is by Lucille Clifton.

What Did She Know, When Did She Know It

by Lucille Clifton

in the evenings
what it was the soft tap tap
into the room the cold curve
of the sheet arced off
the fingers sliding in
and the hard clench against the wall
before and after
all the cold air cold edges
why the little girl never smiled

The poem is unpublished online. You can read the entire poem in Clifton's book, The Terrible Stories.

1996 National Book Award nominee

Oprah Winfrey's website has an excellent list of resources for victims of sexual abuse, including children.

Questions for you. readers: What is the darkest or most personal subject you have felt brave enough to tackle in a poem? What do you think makes these two poems work, despite the troubling subject matter?

This week's Poetry Friday blog roll is at Semicolon. See you over there for more great poetry links.

30 Habits of Highly Effective Poets #11: Jacqueline Jules on Finding Writing Time

Butt in chair: it's an old writers' adage for a reason. Setting aside regular writing time is the surest way of making progress. However, if you have kids or pets or friends that need your attention, a house to clean or a job that pays the bills, doctors appointments or family in town, writing can end up on the bottom of the to-do list.

Here is children's author Jacqueline Jules, an active member of our local, MidAtlantic SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) chapter. Jacqueline advises taking your writing time whenever and wherever you can get it.

THE BEST TIME TO WRITE
by Jacqueline Jules

    At my last dental appointment, my dental hygienist treated me like a rock star, asking all kinds of questions about what it was like to be a children’s author and poet.
    “Do you have a specific time of day when you are the most creative?” she asked as she picked tartar from my teeth.
    Since I couldn’t close my mouth to answer while she was cleaning my molars, I had a few moments to think about my answer and consider how she framed her question.
    “I’ve read that some writers do their best work in the middle of the night. Others work first thing in the morning. . .”
    My best time of day to write? In the last decade, my struggle has only been to find the time to write.  I write whenever there is a free moment. Sometimes that means a few stolen moments to look over a poem draft while I’m eating breakfast before a day of teaching. Other times, that means taking a notebook with me on a walk. I’m an avid walker and often think about a poem while my feet are moving on my neighborhood sidewalks. Hey, some people listen to music while they exercise. I like to listen to words trying to make music in my head.
    When I can’t fall asleep at night, I think about metaphors to match an emotion I’m struggling to convey in a poem. I re-write lines while driving, doing the dishes, cooking, dressing. Scribbled notebooks weigh down my pocketbook and litter my house.  
    I don’t know whether or not my dental hygienist was disappointed to learn that my writing habits were not particularly glamorous. But they are what they are. Sometimes, I worry about myself. I think I spend too much time obsessing over words and not enough time interacting with people. My method of confronting this concern, of course, was to write a poem about it. The following poem, “Upon Visiting the National Museum of African Art,” appeared in The Amistad – Ars Poetica, 2008.

A mask of the Ejagham peoples, from the National Museum of African Art.

Upon Visiting the National Museum of African Art
by Jacqueline Jules

In this quiet space
filled with small glass houses,
visitors like me, walk with open mouths
amid iron masks and ivory figures
crafted by hands that also hunted for food.
Shelter, clothing, and a full belly—
it's never been enough—
not even for Cro-Magnon
who painted cave walls
and made bracelets from bone.
Humans like to make things,
just as a dog likes to dig, clawing the dirt
without knowing why.
I've often questioned my mind
when it becomes a migrating bird,
unable to turn back,
as a poem searches wildly
for a warm spot to build a nest.
I worry that I spend too much time,
puzzling over words on paper
while others dine and party.
Now I see my connection
to those who carved roosters
and decorated horns
after hunting in the bush
or toiling in the fields.
A poem, a pot, or a painting—
each starts with the same impulse
to birth an image from within
and watch it stand on its own,
blinking in the light.

Jacqueline Jules is a poet, teacher, librarian, and children’s author. Her award-winning books for young readers include Zapato Power, Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation, and Duck for Turkey Day.

Her poetry has appeared in over 70 journals including Nebo, Inkwell, Innisfree Poetry Journal, The Broome Review, Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Christian Science Monitor, Chaminade Literary Review, Imitation Fruit, and Potomac Review. She won the Arlington Arts Moving Words Contest in 1999 and 2007, Best Original Poetry from the Catholic Press Association in 2008, and the SCBWI Magazine Merit Poetry Award in 2009. Visit her online at  www.jacquelinejules.com