Harlem Hopscotch
Harlem Hopscotch - meaning Summary
Street Game as Social Critique
The poem uses the playground game of hopscotch as a metaphor for life in Harlem, mapping jumps and counts onto poverty, racial exclusion, and economic precarity. Brief stanzas outline hunger, unpaid rent, unemployment, and being "counted out," while the speaker's final line asserts private triumph. The tone is direct and ironic, blending childlike play imagery with adult hardship to emphasize resilience amid social injustice.
Read Complete AnalysesOne 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.
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