Mother to Son

Well, son, I'll tell you:
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 turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you find it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For Is'e still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1994)