50-50

A poem by Langston Hughes. 

I’m all alone in this world, she said,   

Ain’t got nobody to share my bed,    

  Ain’t got nobody to hold my hand— 

  The truth of the matter’s 

  I ain’t got no man.

Big Boy opened his mouth and said,    

  Trouble with you is 

  You ain’t got no head! 

  If you had a head and used your mind    

  You could have me with you 

  All the time.

She answered, Babe, what must I do?

He said, Share your bed— 

And your money, too.

A story is told with this poem. A woman is alone and wanting. She desires a love in her life but doesn't know how to go about getting it. Somewhere in her life she's introduced to a man that offers what she think she wants, but in the end, that man is only interested in his own selfish wants. This poem speaks of and emphasizes on desperation  This woman wants to be loved, to be aided, to be held, and is willing to consent into a false courtship to experience it. This poem, being decades old, still has strong precedence over people today. Hughes perfectly captured the nature of desperate lonely woman  and scumbag men with this poem.