Harlem

Harlem represents a time of disadvantagement for the poet. The children play there, and think there is nowhere else to be. They mock someone that steps outside the lines.

Africa

Africa is pictured as a place of unspoiled beauty for a time. It is a land that cares for its inhabitants, both human and animal. Colonization ruins all of this, however. Many of the poem deal with this fact.

America

The poet writes of the United States as a sad country with a sordid past. The theme of hope still runs through the poem about America, however.

Drugs

Drugs bring about devastating effects, as the poet points out in a number of poems. Drug users feed upon society and ruin lives for personal gain.

Inner City

The inner city holds little for the minorities that live there. Contrastingly, the people of the impoverished inner city live happier...