African American Poetry: Locomotion

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2003. Locomotion. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 9780399231155

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Review and Critical Analysis

Jacqueline Woodson's Locomotion gives readers a glimpse into the life of eleven-year-old Lonnie Collins Motion, or as his mother nicknamed him, Locomotion. In his short eleven years, Lonnie has faced more tragedy than most people face in a lifetime. His parents died in a fire, and he has been separated from his little sister, Lili. With the help of his foster mother, Miss Edna, and his teacher, Ms. Marcus, Lonnie discovers writing poetry as a vehicle to grapple with his grief and to rebuild his sense of hope.

The verse novel explores a variety of poetic forms including haiku, sonnets, and epistle poems. Some of the poems, like "December 9th," "Epitaph Poem," and "The Fire," are expressions of Lonnie's grief over losing his parents. These poems are filled with the images of firemen, smoke, and things he remembers about his parents--all the images that cloud his mind. Despite the tragedy that afflicts his past, Lonnie also expresses a clear hope for the future in poems like "Lili's New Mama's House" where he describes the joy he feels when he visits his sister or in "Rodney" when Lonnie is filled with pride when Miss Edna's son comes home and calls him "Little Brother." Lonnie's optimistic hope will draw readers young and old, inspiring those with their own struggles to find a way to work through the hardship and move toward a hope-filled future.

Example Poem

"Me, Eric, Lamont & Angel"

Once I saw a house fall down on a lady, Lamont says.

That ain't nothing, Angel says. Once I saw this dog

get hit by a car. He went way up in the air and

when he came down again,

he got up and ran away. But he stopped at the corner,

Angel says.

And died.

Eric squints up his eyes.

Looks out over the school yard.

The sky's real blue and no wind's blowing.

I shake my head, trying to shake that dog out of it.

Once I saw a little boy, Eric says, all mysterious.

And then in my dream, he was a man.

We all look at him and don't say nothing.

Far away, I hear some girls singing real slow and sad

Her mother, she went upstairs too.

Saying daughter oh daughter

what's troubling you . . .

That ain't no tragedy, Angel says, giving Eric a look.

More than what Lonnie seen, Eric says, grinning at me.

In my head I see a fire. I see black windows.

I hear people hollering. I smell smoke.

I hear a man's voice saying I'm so sorry.

I hear myself screaming.

Never seen nothing, I say.

Activity

To introduce this poem to young readers, I would ask if anyone had an experience where someone made an assumption about you when they had no idea how you really felt. I might also ask students if they have experiences in their past that they have hidden from their friends, teachers, or even parents. I would ask students to share how they felt when the people around them did not understand their situation. After reading the poem aloud, I would invite students to compare Lonnie's reaction to his friends with their own reactions.