makes a giddy sound, not/strong/Like 'rent,' 'feeding a wife,' 'satisfying a man'" (2-4), and a person cannot even count on lukewarm water for her shower when a neighborhood has used the bathroom first.
Bronzeville Boys and Girls also confronts the unpleasantness of life, but there is an innocence to these poems because they deal with childhood. The poetry of this volume is noted for the fact that it is written "with childlike simplicity, the poems dealt with the everyday experience common to all youngsters as well as those peculiar to the city child" (Bolden 153). In "Lyle," a boy must deal with the transient nature of his life, as poverty forces he and his family to move from apartment to apartment, unlike the tree who "won't pack his bag and go./Tree won't go away./In his first and favorite home/Tree shall stay and stay" (1-4). The imagery is simple, but there is a real sadness as well, as Lyle tells the reader, "Once I liked a little home./Then I liked another" (5-6). Brooks conveys the difficulties that the urban experience can bring, particularly in the life of a child, while keeping her language simple enough for young readers to understand.
But Brooks does not imply that there is no joy to be found in Bronzeville, and the children in Bronzeville Boys and Girls do manage to find enjoyment in their lives. In "Mexie and Birdie," two little girls partake of a tea party that includes "Pink cakes, and nuts and bonbons on/A tiny, shiny tray" (3-4). Mexie and Birdie are able to have a good time even within the confines of Bronzeville, just as the title character in "Gertrude" is able to find joy in music. She declares, "When I hear Marian Anderson sing/I am a STUFFless kind of thing./Heart is like the flying air/I cannot find it anywhere
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