Strange Hurt
In times of stormy weather
She felt queer pain that said,
"You'll find rain better
than shelter from the rain."
Days filled with fiery sunshine
Strange hurt she knew that made
Her seek the burning sunlight
Rather than the shade.
In months of snowy winter
When cozy houses hold,
She'd break down doors
To wander naked in the cold.
-Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes has always been coffee for my soul. My love affair with his poetry began in middle school. It is easy to see why. The language he uses while it is simple to grasp, also has the rhythm and flow that is like listening to the soulful sound of blues. It is raw and poignant. His poetry understands collective pain. It understands that people in pain don't want pity. They don't want to be inspired by positive thoughts. They want simply the right to feel their pain and embrace it as part of them. Pain, you see is not negative. It is not a monster you need to condemn to live under your bed. Langston Hughes makes it all right to feel pain without guilt, without admittance of weakness, because it doesn't always correspond. Yes I'm hurt, and I am feeling pain, but this doesn't mean I am defeated, because I am in fact still feeling.
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