Poem of the Day: Brass Spittoons

[Arnold Richards]

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Having trouble viewing this email? Click here to view it in your browser. Brass Spittoons By Langston Hughes Clean the spittoons, boy.       Detroit,       Chicago,       Atlantic City,       Palm Beach. Clean the spittoons. The steam in hotel kitchens, And the smoke in hotel lobbies, And the slime in hotel spittoons: Part of my life.       Hey, boy!       A nickel,       A dime,       A dollar, Two dollars a day.       Hey, boy!       A nickel,       A dime,       A dollar,       Two dollars Buy shoes for the baby. House rent to pay. Gin on Saturday, Church on Sunday.       My God! Babies and gin and church And women and Sunday All mixed with dimes and Dollars and clean spittoons And house rent to pay.       Hey, boy! A bright bowl of brass is beautiful to the Lord. Bright polished brass like the cymbals Of King David’s dancers, Like the wine cups of Solomon.       Hey, boy! A clean spittoon on the altar of the Lord. A clean bright spittoon all newly polished— At least I can offer that.       Com’mere, boy! A Note from the Editor Today is May Day, also called Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day, commemorating the labor movement's history of civil disobedience and the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago. Langston Hughes, "Brass Spittoons" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc. Please note: We strive to preserve the text formatting of poems over email, but certain email clients may distort how character indent, line wraps, and fonts appear. View this poem online More about Langston Hughes Biography More Poems by this Author Subscribe to Poetry Get Poetry You have received this email because you submitted your email address at www.poetryfoundation.org. You may unsubscribe or change your newsletter subscription preferences at any time. © 2022 Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation 61 W. Superior Street Chicago, IL 60654 USA