#AmericanWriters
Harlem Sent him home in a long box— Too dead To know why:
How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
I play it cool I dig all jive. That's the reason I stay alive. My motto
You say I O.K.ed LONG DISTANCE? O.K.ed it when? My goodness, Central That was then!
It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream. But it was there then, In front of me, Bright like a sun—
In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...
When I get to be a composer I’m gonna write me some music abou… Daybreak in Alabama And I’m gonna put the purtiest so… Rising out of the ground like a sw…
Good morning, daddy! Ain’t you heard The boogie—woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely:
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow… I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other ni… By the pale dull pallor of an old…
When a man starts out with nothing… When a man starts out with his han… Empty, but clean, When a man starts to build a world… He starts first with himself
Love Is a ripe plum Growing on a purple tree. Taste it once And the spell of its enchantment
When the shoe strings break On both your shoes And you’re in a hurry— That’s the blues. When you go to buy a candy bar
It would be nice In any case, To someday meet you Face to face Walking down
Down in the bass That steady beat Walking walking walking Like marching feet. Down in the bass