ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance poem "Prayer for the Berry Pickers"

Welcome to day #11 of 2018 ARTSPEAK!, in which I am focusing on art and artists from the Harlem Renaissance. Today I am in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, at one of my favorite-ever events: Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival!

Before we get to today's poem, please be sure and visit Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!

Today I'm continuing my Harlem Renaissance poetry project by introducing another artist, the third so far in this series: Palmer Hayden.

Here are the poems in the series so far:

"Sometimes Books Are the Only Playground I Need" after Among Them is a Girl Reading by Palmer Hayden
"Measurements" after Octoroon Girl by Archibald Motley
"Barbeque" after Barbecue by Archibald Motley

"American Idyll, 1934" after An Idyll of the Deep South by Aaron Douglas
"The Toiler" after The Toiler by Aaron Douglas
"Let There Be Poetry" after The Creation by Aaron Douglas
"Boy with Plane" after Boy with Plane by Aaron Douglas
"To a Dancer" after Sahdji (Tribal Women) by Aaron Douglas
"For the Builders" after Building More Stately Mansions by Aaron Douglas
"This Poem is a Dream" after Aspiration by Aaron Douglas

I learned in the book HARLEM STOMP! that Hayden was a janitor and then came to prominence as the first winner of the Harmon Foundation art competition in 1926 (an art contest created to recognize African American artists). Much of Hayden's work centered on black American life, legends and folk heroes. He was criticized for lapsing into a portrayal of blacks that seemed rooted in cultural stereotypes, a reminder that “blacks were performing for a white audience.” I also love the information about Palmer's life and work found here.

And I love this quote: "I decided to paint to support my love of art, rather than have art support me." — Palmer Hayden quoted in Nora Holt, "Painter Palmer Hayden Symbolizes John Henry," New York Times, 1 Feb. 1947. We'll be sticking with Hayden for the next week! 

Today's piece is called Berry Pickers. I've been berry picking before, and it brings warm family memories... and in this pic there appears to be three generations represented. Here's where I landed:

Prayer for the Berry Pickers

May tender sun ever guide

you to sweetness

May gray dog

rattle snakes from brambles

May your buckets hang light,

then heavy

May you know the flavor

of sunlight and rain

May your purpling fingertips

bring grins, giggles

May you leave plenty

for birds and bears to feast

May your love for one another

ripen, not rot

May warm scent of berries

ever remind you of this day

- Irene Latham