Holiday Lines by Langston Hughes on view at Beinecke

What’s a poet with a large circle of friends, rich in words if limited in financial resources, to do when checking the names off his holiday list? For Langston Hughes, during the holiday season of 1950, the answer was to share some of his wit in homemade Christmas postcards.

In one, Hughes wrote:

IF TIMES WERE NOT SO DOGGONE HARD

I MIGHT SEND YOU A GIFT

BUT SINCE I’M BROKE AS CAN BE,

HERE’S JUST A CHRISTMAS LIFT:

            MERRY,

                        MERRY,

                                    CHRISTMAS!

To see more of Langston's wit visit this exhibition at the Beinecke website.