#AmericanWriters
Big Boy came Carrying a mermaid On his shoulders And the mermaid Had her tail
My old man’s a white old man And my old mother’s black. If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mot…
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
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
Listen! Dear dream of utter aliveness— Touching my body of utter death— Tell me, O quickly! dream of aliv… The flaming source of your bright…
Have you dug the spill Of Sugar Hill? Cast your gims On this sepia thrill: Brown sugar lassie,
Now dreams Are not available To the dreamers, Nor songs To the singers.
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
In the Quarter of the Negroes Where the doors are doors of paper Dust of dingy atoms Blows a scratchy sound. Amorphous jack—o’—Lanterns caper
I will take you heart. I will take your soul out of your… As though I were God. I will not be satisfied With the touch of your hand
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.
'Me an’ ma baby’s Got two mo’ ways, Two mo’ ways to do de Charleston!… Da, da, Da, da, da!
I am God— Without one friend, Alone in my purity World without end. Below me young lovers
Being walkers with the dawn and mo… Walkers with the sun and morning, We are not afraid of night, Nor days of gloom, Nor darkness—
Let’s go see Old Abe Sitting in the marble and the moon… Sitting lonely in the marble and t… Quiet for ten thousand centuries,… Quiet for a million, million years…