Even If You Are Not

Life For My Child Is Simple, And Is Good.

She Was Afraid To Suggest To Him That To Most People, Nothing "happens." That Most People Merely Live From Day To Day Until They Die. That, After He Had Been Dead A Year, Doubtless Fewer Than Five People Would Think Of Him Oftener Than Once A Year. That There Might Even Come A Year When No One On Earth Would Think Of Him At All.

Be Careful What You Swallow. Chew!

It Frightens Me To Realize That, If I Had Died Before The Age Of Fifty, I Would Have Died A 'negro' Fraction.

I Don't Want People Running Around Saying Gwen Brooks's Work Is Intellectual. That Makes People Think Instantly About Obscurity. It Shouldn't Have To Mean That, But It Often Seems To.