Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Color: The words used in the poem are black and white to represent the human hierarchy devised/formed by the human society itself. I will be referring this poem to the Columbian exchange using dark elements and a mysterious and controversial tone to the reader.

Item: Snake to represent a whip, the field of cotton to represent labor, and a collar to mean how the blacks are being dominated.