LANGSTON HUGHES TRIBUTE ISSUE Phillip Calderwood   COTTON FARM BLUES I’d rather pick cotton than pick these blues for you Rather pick cotton than pick these blues for you My fingers crack and split, but my heart shouldn’t do that too When you left me, baby, you broke off my right arm When you left me, baby, you broke off my right arm You made it hard for me to make it on the cotton farm You can pick another man’s crop, but that’s no way to live No, pickin another man’s crop is just no way to live You picked me so clean, you got all I had to give The only work I know is fillin up a cotton sack Only work I know is fillin up a cotton sack I can pick a lot of cotton, but not enough to bring you back All these rows of cotton cover many a mile These rows of cotton cover many a country mile And the fields are just as white as my baby’s smile She used to smile at me, but now she’s somewhere far away Used to smile at me, now she’s somewhere far away She said, Never again, but my heart says, Maybe some day   Phillip Calderwood was born and raised in Northern California. He received a BA in English and history from UC Berkeley and an MA in history from American University. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Broadkill Review, Four and Twenty, Gargoyle, and Innisfree. He lives with his wife in Rockville, MD, and works in DC.   Published in Volume 12, Number 1, Winter 2011.