Question

Singing America Now

After reading "I, Too" by Langston Hughes and "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, choose one of the options below and write a response poem.
Whitman: Imagine Whitman were alive today. Write an updated version of "I Hear America Singing" and include the sights, sounds, and workers of today. Write between 10-12 lines, mimicking Whitman's style.
Consider today's laborers and the theme (and TONE) you want to take in your poem --> you don't have to have a positive tone if you choose.
Hughes: Select someone whose voice you don't think is always "heard" in our country, the same way Hughes speaks of African Americans during the 1920s. Write an "I, Too" poem using that person as the speaker. It should be between 10-12 lines and mimic Hughes' style.
Possible subjects/speakers: immigrants, young people, senior citizens, homeless, etc.
Type your poem here

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

Let's go with the second option: an "I, Too" poem mimicking Hughes' style. Our speaker is an immigrant.

I, too, sing America.

I am the one they ignore.

They send me to the kitchen

and I cook for them,

hear them laugh,

drink and eat.

I am the one who raises their children.

I know their names,

dreams,

fears.

But they don't ask me

about my own.

Some are there

who want me gone.

Some build walls

literally.

But I still come

and I still work

and I survive.

I, too, am America.