"Aunt Chloe's Politics" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend June 23, 2019   Aunt Chloe's Politics   Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

Of course, I don't know very much     About these politics, But I think that some who run 'em     Do mighty ugly tricks.   I've seen 'em honey-fugle round,     And talk so awful sweet, That you'd think them full of kindness,     As an egg is full of meat.   Now I don't believe in looking     Honest people in the face, And saying when you're doing wrong,     That "I haven't sold my race."   When we want to school our children,     If the money isn't there, Whether black or white have took it,     The loss we all must share.   And this buying up each other     Is something worse than mean, Though I thinks a heap of voting,     I go for voting clean.            This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on June 23, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About This Poem   "Aunt Chloe's Politics" was published in Sketches of Southern Life (Ferguson Brothers, 1891).   Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born on September 24, 1825, in Baltimore, Maryland. Her books include Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects (Merrihew and Thompson, 1857) and Forest Leaves (James Young, 1846), among others. She died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 22, 1911. Poetry by Harper   Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects (Forgotten Books, 2012) "America" by Claude McKay "Poem for July 4, 1994" by Sonia Sanchez "I, Too" by Langston Hughes June Guest Editor: Samiya Bashir   Thanks to Samiya Bashir, author of Field Theories (Nightboat Books, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Bashir about her curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038