An Incident

Incident

Once riding in old Baltimore, Heart-filled, head-filled with glee; I saw a Baltimorean Keep looking straight at me. Now I was eight and very small, And he was no whit bigger, And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue, and called me, "Nigger." I saw the whole of Baltimore From May until December; Of all the things that happened there That's all that I remember.  _________________________________________________________________________________ A response to the poem:   Did the poet who is the narrator of the poem deserve what had happen to him? Did he deserve being called the terrible name the little boy who was close to his age had said? I mean maybe the little boy didn't know what the word meant and he heard his family say it when an African American walked by. Sometimes it isn't always the kid's fault, maybe the upbringing in his house wasn't as perfect. But I guess the poet got scarred by the memory. I mean, did he really deserve it? That's kind of messed up. I guess the kid who called him the name needs to know what the word really means. And if he already knows, he should be scolded or asked of to never say it again.