Yousef's+Page

Yousef Ahmed Serir

“I will not take "but" for an answer.” -Langston Hughes

About My Own Poetry:

When I’m writing my own poetry I like to use the more traditional way. My rhyme scheme is always the same: (ABAB). You might think that my way is boring or cliché, but if you think about it, a good poem will fit into any structure. I think that free poems that don’t follow any structure are cool too. They have no limits or boundaries, it really brings out the essence of what the poem is.

An Ode to My Cat:

Kitty, Kitty, you are a witty Kitty. When I’m sad, you never quit me. When you’re angry, you’ve never bit me. You are my best friend, You are my reverend They should make a religion for you. I will worship you. As long as you stay my witty, witty, kitty.

Ghazal:

Yo, I’m hungry I could go fo a cheesesteak

Yeah, I’ll go To the sto fo a cheesesteak

Pat’s King of Steaks Or Geno’s fo a cheesesteak

Ok, so I go to Geno’s for a cheesesteak

I’m like yo Young bo, let me get a cheesesteak

He said get out of here arab THIS IS AMERICA, ORDER IN ENGLISH Fo a cheesesteak.

I got mad, I sad yo bo, Actaully. I’ll go To your mom’s fo a cheesesteak (OHHH!!!)

Yeah, she make em’ sloppy, She got me Sayin I want Mo’ cheesesteak

Nah, maybe I Could make my own cheesesteak

Yeah, my cheesesteak brings all the boys to the yard and their like its betta than yo’s-cheesesteak

My friend Amanda is fo sho And I like cheesesteak.

Kitab is my bo And I like cheesesteak

Wow, it’s sad how they broke up Woah They need a cheesesteak.

Amanda is depressed singing “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey Cheesesteak

Yo, This the end of this flow-

Now, I can go eat my cheesesteak.

It’s a week later, And I’ve had my cheesesteak.

Kitab and Amanda got together, Thanks to cheesesteaks.

About Langston Hughes:

Langston Hughes’ work was largely influenced by life as a Black from early to mid 1900’s.

Dreams by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.

Analysis: I think this poem is just Langston Hughes trying to inspire the reader to never give up, because when you do, you have given up on yourself. This could have been influenced by his life, growing up in times of segregation. He could be addressing his fellow Blacks to persevere through those times.

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then.

Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Analysis: I think this could have been an anthem for all black growing up in times of slavery or after. The line “Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am. And be ashamed—“ This to me symbolizes hope, determination, patience because Langston Hughes was such optimistic person in times of hardship for his race. And I think that alone makes him one of the best poets of all time.

Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-- Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become. O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home-- For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore, And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand I came To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we've dreamed And all the songs we've sung And all the hopes we've held And all the flags we've hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay-- Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America!

O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again!

Analysis: This is one of Langston’s more critical poems. He is exploiting America’s flaws by showing the double-standard obtains by calling themselves the land of opportunity and equality yet still having slavery. This is the strategy that he uses: “(America never was America to me.)” Notice how he puts those phrases in parenthesis to furthermore emphasize the echoes of Blacks across America. I thought that was crucial to the reader to really show the hypocrisy Langston was trying to show.