Today’s cozy reading gathers three vivid Langston Hughes poems, each chosen for their musicality, clarity, and emotional resonance. Benny Andrews’s illustrations bring these poems to life with bold lines, warm colors, and expressive figures — perfect for young listeners discovering Hughes’s voice.

I shaped the reading around a “City Rhythms” arc: how Hughes listens to the world — a bluesman singing, a joyful shout, a dream deferred — and turns those sounds into poetry that invites reflection and connection.

Before recording, I created a small index‑card collage — a pink‑and‑green bus‑stop sign framed in my handmade red‑with‑white‑dots frame. This creative ritual helps me enter Hughes’s world with warmth, attention, and affection.

Watch the full cozy poetry reading and enjoy this gentle, rhythm‑bright moment.

Today’s cozy reading features Langston Hughes’s beloved poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers, illustrated with luminous watercolor depth by E. B. Lewis. The poem traces a lineage of rivers — the Euphrates, the Congo, the Nile, the Mississippi — each carrying history, memory, and the long human story of endurance and beauty.

I shaped the reading around a soft “Rivers of Memory” arc: how water holds time; how history flows through generations; how a single line of poetry can open into a whole landscape of feeling.

Before recording, I created a small index‑card collage — a textured river scene framed in my handmade red‑with‑white‑dots frame. This creative ritual helps me enter Hughes’s world with warmth, attention, and affection.

🎥 Watch the full cozy poetry reading and enjoy this gentle, river‑bright moment.