Langston Hughes: Poems

make a list of the choices offered to her

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.

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Last updated by Aj_Beulah 7 #925551
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The speaker is adressing a boy. More than choices, he gives this advice: he tells the boy not to stop climbing through the journey of life and not to fall off the path. 

Don't live without knowing who you are