African American Poetry

Bibliography

Greenfield, Eloise. 1991. NIGHT ON NEIGHBORHOOD STREET. Ill. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-80370777-0

Summary

Night on Neighborhood Street is a collection of 17 poems that offer a glimpse into the lives of an inner city neighborhood with emphasis on the African American community. The poems' subject matter includes the importance of family time, new life, sleepovers, church, abandoned homes, nighttime fears, and the danger of drugs to name a few.

Quality and Appeal

This Coretta Scott King Honor book for content and illustrations is the work of poet Eloise Greenfield. Ms. Greenfield’s poems are consistent in quality by honestly writing about an urban community’ s daily trial and tribulations. The familiarity of the subject matter by the poet makes the content that much more believable. The poem’s theme is consistent throughout the book and center on the deep devotion to family even through the harsh realities of life such as unemployment, illness, and potential drug use are a daily reminder of life’s struggles. The poems are arranged beginning with the initial poem, "Neighborhood Street," announcing the beginning of another day with new sights, sounds, and events. In between are poems about children and the wide range of emotional experiences they encounter. The book appropriately concludes with the poem, "Night on Neighborhood Street," the books title. Jan Spivey Gilchrist’s illustrations beautifully complement the language of each poem.

The mood presented in the poems by Ms. Greenfield effectively elicits a range of emotions when describing the events in the neighborhood. The introductory poem, "Neighborhood Street," opens with the promise of possibilities as “dawn spun slowly out of darkness” and concludes playfully with children participating in jump rope games singing their favorite chants as “dusk spins from daylight.” In the poem, "Fambly Time," a young couple and their two children gather together to share in the joy of family intimacy. A heartfelt mood can be sensed with the poem "Nerissa," a small child who knows “her daddy’s out of work and her mama’s sick in bed.” Yet through the darkest of times for this threesome little Nerissa is “a big help when she tickles her folks by telling them the best old bedtime jokes. The mood turns dark with the poem, "The Seller," a poem about a drug dealer who invades the peaceful neighborhood “carrying in his many pockets packages of death.”

 The poems in the book are equally reflective of both free verse poems with emphasis on narrative and poems that have a rhyme scheme. The poem, "When Tonya’s Friends Come to Spend the Night," provides an ideal example of a rhyme pattern within a poem. The final word on the end of each line ends in rhyme with the following line. The repetitive rhyme also adds a rhythm, which makes the poem have a musical quality. Even though the free verse poems are without rhyme, the fluidity of the language provides a melodious rhythm. Several poems exhibit the poetic element of repetition. In the poem, "Goodnight, Juma," The phrase, “Go to bed, Juma” is repeated several times and reversed in the middle of the poem to say, “Juma, go to bed.” In Buddy’s Dream lines alternate with the repeating phrase, “Go, Buddy, Buddy Go Buddy, Go.”

Two poems that offer excellent examples of imagery are "The House With the Wooden Windows" and "Darnell." "The House With the Wooden Windows" tells the tale of an abandoned house that sits lifeless. Descriptive phrases like “doesn’t know night from day,” “scare the babies,” “filled with ghosts,” and “only dust rises to dance to the lonely beat of silence” create powerful images. In Darnell, a child is deathly afraid of the dark. Appealing to our senses are the words “lies stiffly awake,” and “danger hides in the sounds he hears.” "Darnell" also includes examples of personification with the words “tap! creak! squeak!.”

Night on Neighborhood Street offers an excellent example of how to introduce children to a culture different from their own. The subjects in the book are mostly children, which will appeal to a younger audience. Although the poems are about an inner city neighborhood, young readers can make the comparison to their own life with the subject matters discussed within the pages of the book. The book also will appeal to African American children who can relate on a personal level with the poems. The book also offers some good teaching moments in regard to the dangers of drugs, facing one’s fears, acceptance, and discovering the possibilities when you use your imagination.

Spotlight Poem

The Seller

when the seller comes around

carrying in his many pockets

packages of death

all the children go inside

they see behind his easy smile

they know his breath is cold

they turn their backs and

reach for warmth

and life

"The Seller" is an excellent example of how to introduce the dangers of drugs to young readers. Although the subject matter may be considered quite heavy and dark for school age children, an opportunity lost to equip them with knowledge is just that…. an opportunity lost. "The Seller" uses language within the poem, which might be puzzling to children, but the language offers an introduction on how to interpret words and phrases in poetry. Symbolism can also be defined and taught throughout the poem. The illustration showing the children turning their backs on the seller can also be interpreted as turning their back on drugs. The lines they see behind his easy smile they know his breath is cold” can refer to what happens when one dies, the body turns cold. All but one turns their back on the seller. That one lone person is a young child who may not know the reputation of the seller, but the illustration clearly shows that one of the older boys firmly has a grip on the young child’s wrist. At the end of the book the final illustration is of two figures silhouetted under a streetlight. The figures eerily look like the young child from the poem about the seller and the older, taller figure has their hand reaching out for the shoulder of the young child. Could this be the Seller? After reading the poem, elicit responses from the class to interpret the illustration for themselves.

Connections

1. Use the poem, "The Seller, " to introduce voice and the unique writing style of this particular author.

2. Have a classroom discussion about the dangers of drug use. Students can create posters on how to say drug free. The posters can be displayed in the school.