How you sound like the lullaby of the ice cream truck
Like cars honking like an alarm in the morning,
and people rushing to work and school
Like pigeons flapping their wings like the beats of a drum,
chirping like opera singers, tapping and clapping their feet like dancers
How you sound like lively souls, and people on trains
filled with joy and excitement,
and the noise of the tracks going ch ch ch
How you are 136 songs,
each with their own tongue,
blasting from store radios on Northern Boulevard
How you sound like people speaking many different languages,
like a swirling brush on a white canvas of the streets,
hello, hola, ​​tashi delek, kumusta, shukriya
If you have questions or would like more information about H2HH, please contact the Project Director Sahar Muradi at sahar@citylore.org
Made possible with generous support from the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the above organizations.
Homer 2 Hip Hop (H2HH) is City Lore’s unique educational program that centers the oral tradition, multilingualism, and culturally-rooted poetry forms, and an inter-arts approach to the teaching of poetry. The program celebrates the spoken and written word for its power to inspire, grow community, and foster belonging. Here you can find student work from some of our school-based H2HH programs, as well as lesson plans, videos, and other resources for educators, poets, and poetry lovers.