Possible Clues:

• "Was ___ harsh?"
• '--, sing America': Langston Hughes
• Title start of a Langston Hughes poem
• '___, dislike it' (start of Marianne Moore's 'Poetry')
• 'Am ___ fat for this dress?'
• Hughes poem about racial inequality
• "Am ___ loud?"
• ''Am ___ late?''
• 'Am ___ loud?'
• Hughes poem with the line 'They send me to eat in the kitchen'