#AmericanWriters
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—
By what sends the white kids I ain’t sent: I know I can’t be President.
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn’t, So I jumped in and sank. I came up once and hollered!
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
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.
Here I sit With my shoes mismated. Lawdy—mercy! I’s frustrated!
It would be nice In any case, To someday meet you Face to face Walking down
The rent man knocked. He said, Howdy—do? I said, What Can I do for you? He said, You know
'Me an’ ma baby’s Got two mo’ ways, Two mo’ ways to do de Charleston!… Da, da, Da, da, da!
I’m all alone in this world, she s… Ain’t got nobody to share my bed, Ain’t got nobody to hold my hand— The truth of the matter’s I ain’t got no man.
Good morning, daddy! Ain’t you heard The boogie—woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely:
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…
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed
Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you— Then, it will be true. I wonder if it’s that simple?