#AmericanWriters
I play it cool I dig all jive. That's the reason I stay alive. My motto
I look at the world From awakening eyes in a black fac… And this is what I see: This fenced—off narrow space Assigned to me.
I woke up this mornin’ ’Bout half-past three. All the womens in town Was gathered round me. Sweet gals was a-moanin’,
I am God— Without one friend, Alone in my purity World without end. Below me young lovers
Down in the bass That steady beat Walking walking walking Like marching feet. Down in the bass
Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is… (America never was America to me.…
She, In the dark, Found light Brighter than many ever see. She,
The census man, The day he came round, Wanted my name To put it down. I said, Johnson,
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh,
I got to leave this town. It’s a lonesome place. Got to leave this town cause It’s a lonesome place. A po’, po’ boy can’t
Harlem Sent him home in a long box— Too dead To know why:
'Me an’ ma baby’s Got two mo’ ways, Two mo’ ways to do de Charleston!… Da, da, Da, da, da!
We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark
I’m all alone in this world, she s… 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.
When the old junk man Death Comes to gather up our bodies And toss them into the sack of obl… I wonder if he will find The corpse of a white multi—millio…