We can go through life thinking we know everything there is to know, or we can listen to those who are wise. As I think back over my life, I wish I would have listened to the wisdom of my mother. Life for me would have been so much easier if I would have taken her advice. Langston Hughes' poem "Mother to Son" explains to us a mother sharing her wisdom with her son about life's struggles, determination and courage as well as preparing him not to give up when he's faced with trials and tribulations through his journey of adulthood.
             The mother starts in the first line out explaining to her son the difficulties of her life. The mother begins by saying, "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair" (p.533,l.2), as if to say her life has not been easy; she has seen both good and bad times. She had taken some wrong directions in her life. It is also clear knowledge of the path she felt she needed to take or perhaps should have taken. She had to work hard for the things in her life. She knew that things were not going to be handed down to her on a silver platter. She had to endure a lot of pain jumping over the obstacles she was faced with in her life. Her life was "Bare" (p. 555, l.7). We can compare "crystal stairs" to the ups and downs we are faced with in life. As if she was standing alone.
             Next, the poem shows how the mother keeps going, in spite of the pain and suffering she had endured. When she refers to "And reachin' landin's And turnin' corners" (p. 533, l.10-11), she is telling her son to keep moving, keep setting goals, don't let a bad experience hold him back. She lets him know that he might get to a point of complacency, but keep moving. There may be things or people to slow him down, but keep going. She illustrates with each encounter she had to faced, she reaches another level and gets a bit closer to reaching
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