#AmericanWriters
Children, I come back today To tell you a story of the long da… That I had to climb, that I had t… In order that the race might live… Look at my face —dark as the night…
Landlord, landlord, My roof has sprung a leak. Don’t you 'member I told you abou… Way last week? Landlord, landlord,
Good morning, daddy! Ain’t you heard The boogie—woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely:
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 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
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
The gold moth did not love him So, gorgeous, she flew away. But the gray moth circled the flam… Until the break of day. And then, with wings like a dead d…
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
Love Is a ripe plum Growing on a purple tree. Taste it once And the spell of its enchantment
I worked for a woman, She wasn’t mean— But she had a twelve—room House to clean. Had to get breakfast,
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—
You say I O.K.ed LONG DISTANCE? O.K.ed it when? My goodness, Central That was then!
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
The ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond and jade, Sit silently on their temple shelv… While the people
We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark