Oh, silver tree! Oh, shining rivers of the soul! In a Harlem cabaret Six long—headed jazzers play. A dancing girl whose eyes are bold

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

Clean the spittoons, boy. Detroit, Chicago, Atlantic City, Palm Beach.

I am your son, white man! Georgia dusk And the turpentine woods. One of the pillars of the temple f… You are my son!

He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed

Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think

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…

How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water

Now dreams Are not available To the dreamers, Nor songs To the singers.

She, In the dark, Found light Brighter than many ever see. She,