CAP 2

[come home from the movies]
By Lucille Clifton

come home from the movies,
black girls and boys,
the picture be over and the screen
be cold as our neighborhood.
come home from the show,
don’t be the show.
take off some flowers and plant them,
pick us some papers and read them,
stop making some babies and raise them.
come home from the movies
black girls and boys,
show our fathers how to walk like men,
they already know how to dance.

Notes:
1.“come home from the movies” = come back to reality.
2.“the picture be over and the screen / be cold as our neighborhood.” This simile creates the sense that the neighborhood is cold, emotionless.
3.“don’t be the show” = don’t get caught up in being seen by people, be real.
4.Things to do:
*Plant flowers
*Read the papers
*“stop making babies and raise them” – What does it mean to raise the babies? Raise: to breed and bring (an animal) to maturity. Anyone can “make” a baby, but it takes effort and energy to really “raise” a baby.
*“show our fathers how to walk like men” – Show the fathers to be RESPONSIBLE, real men. “they already know how to dance” – They already know how to have fun, to “be the show.”