Poeticous Logo
en
English Español Français Italiano
Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

Demand

Listen!
Dear dream of utter aliveness—
Touching my body of utter death—
Tell me, O quickly! dream of aliveness,
The flaming source of your bright breath.
Tell me, O dream of utter aliveness—
Knowing so well the wind and the sun—
Where is this light
Your eyes see forever?
And what is the wind
You touch when you run?

#Americans #Blacks

Enjoyed this read? Treat us to a coffee!.
Your help allows us to exist.
Other works by Langston Hughes...
Bound No’th Blues

Goin’ down the road, Lawd, Goin’ down the road. Down the road, Lawd, Way, way down the road. Got to find somebody
God the Father with the symbols of the fourth apostles (tetramorphos), know as The Trinity, by Pieter Coecke van Aelst
Gods

The ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond and jade, Sit silently on their temple shelv… While the people
The Negro Speaks of Rivers

I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the w… My soul has grown deep like the ri… I bathed in the Euphrates when da… I built my hut near the Congo and…
 2
You and your whole race.

You and your whole race. Look down upon the town in which y… And be ashamed. Look down upon white folks And upon yourselves
 1
A Mother with her Son and a Pony, by Agostino Brunias
Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal… It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up,
 5
The card trick, by John George Brown
Democracy

Democracy will not come Today, this year Nor ever Through compromise and fear. I have as much right
Po' Boy Blues

When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. Since I come up North de
Minstrel Man

Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
 1
Negro Speaks of Rivers

I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the w… flow of human blood in human veins My soul has grown deep like the ri… I bathed in the Euphrates when da…
 1
Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria

Fine living . . . a la carte? Come to the Waldorf—Astoria! LISTEN HUNGRY ONES! Look! See what Vanity Fair says… new Waldorf—Astoria:
Let America be America Again

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.…
Dream Boogie

Good morning, daddy! Ain’t you heard The boogie—woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely:
Pierrot

I work all day, Said Simple John, Myself a house to buy. I work all day, Said Simple John,
Park Bench

I live on a park bench. You, Park Avenue. Hell of a distance Between us two. I beg a dime for dinner—
 1
 3
I Continue to Dream

I take my dreams and make of them… and a round fountain with a beauti… And a song with a broken heart and… Do you understand my dreams? Sometimes you say you do,



Top