"What We See": taken at the Art Institute in ChicagoThis evening I met with my Turkish friend for our daily two-hour tutoring session in English. It was delightful. Apparently, he is filled with great insight in all sorts of languages. We had an interesting conversation about a poem by Langston Hughes, and I thought it might be fun to share the poem with you. The name of the poem is: BORDER LINE.
I used to wonder
About living and dying -
I think the difference lies
Between tears and crying.
I used to wonder
About here and there -
I think the distance
Is nowhere.
Any thoughts on what it means? According to the author, this poem just came to him without any effort. It's Langton's own favorite of his poems. During my conversation with my Turish friend we didn't come to any specific conclusions. We basically decided that it might be one of those poems that means all sorts of things to different readers. We also thought it might just be a nonsense poem that sounds very beautiful to the ear. My favorite part of our conversation was when my friend was describing tears. He said, "They are eye water, right?"
Brilliant. What a perfect description!
I used to wonder
About living and dying -
I think the difference lies
Between tears and crying.
I used to wonder
About here and there -
I think the distance
Is nowhere.
Any thoughts on what it means? According to the author, this poem just came to him without any effort. It's Langton's own favorite of his poems. During my conversation with my Turish friend we didn't come to any specific conclusions. We basically decided that it might be one of those poems that means all sorts of things to different readers. We also thought it might just be a nonsense poem that sounds very beautiful to the ear. My favorite part of our conversation was when my friend was describing tears. He said, "They are eye water, right?"
Brilliant. What a perfect description!
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