Harlem Hopscotch

Harlem Hopscotch by Maya Angelou

One foot down, then hop! It's hot.

Good things for the ones that's got.

Another jump, now to the left.

Everybody for hisself.

In the air, now both feet down.

Since you black, don't stick around.

Food is gone, the rent is due,

Curse and cry and then jump two.

All the people out of work,

Hold for three, then twist and jerk.

Cross the line, they count you out.

That's what hopping's all about.

Both feet flat, the game is done.

They think I lost, I think I won.

One thing that I liked about this poem was was the last two lines to the poem. It was a good summary of the whole poem and it summed up what the poet was trying to say in the poem.

One thing that I disliked about this poem was how it was about hopscotch. I was never good at the game of hopscotch.

One thing that confused me about this poem was the number of jumps, and how it increasingly got larger as the poem went on and on. I didn't know if that represented the steps in life or what it represented.

The main poetic device used in this poem is the use of symbols in figurative language. A symbol is something that expresses something greater than what it actually is. The symbol that is in this poem is the game of hopscotch. I believe that this is more than just a game of lines. I believe that the lines in the hopscotch court represent more than just a game. I think they represent the boundaries of racism. The part in the poem that pointed this out to me was, "Cross the line, they count you out./ That's what hopping's all about./ Both feet flat, the game is done./ They think I lost, I think I won."