Chapter 1

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Many people think that poems are not for them. They may not have read a poem by a good poet. A good poet can make us feel less cut off from the world. A good poet can make us see the world with new eyes. A good poet can make us feel alive.

Many people think Langston Hughes was a very good poet. Langston was black. He grew up in a time when white people did not treat black people well. So he wrote poems about the need to make a better world. Many people still do not treat black people well. So we still need Langston’s poems. His poems give us hope.

This is a book about the life and poems of Langston Hughes. You can find more of his poems in books or on the web.