Desert De Poussiere. (Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker

Langston Hughes was raised in Lawrence, Kansas, which is one of several states in the Dust Bowl, a large area which was devastated by drought, erosion, and economic depression in the 1930s. Hughes grew up in poverty in Lawrence, then went to high school in Cleveland, Ohio. In the last years of his life, Hughes lived permanently in Harlem, N.Y. In the lyric poem, Hughes feels that the land of Kansas and the Dust bowl are calling him back. He mentions the dust in autumn, the raindrop in spring and a bird's song in winter. The images of the seasons are compelling.