#AmericanWriters
How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water
Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal… It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up,
My name is Johnson— Madam Alberta K. The Madam stands for business. I’m smart that way. I had a
I catch the pattern Of your silence Before you speak I do not need To hear a word.
How quiet It is in this sick room Where on the bed A silent woman lies between two lo… Life and Death,
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…
The ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond and jade, Sit silently on their temple shelv… While the people
Harlem Sent him home in a long box— Too dead To know why:
In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...
Remember The days of bondage— And remembering— Do not stand still. Go to the highest hill
I sat there singing her Songs in the dark. She said; 'I do not understand The words’.
I worked for a woman, She wasn’t mean— But she had a twelve—room House to clean. Had to get breakfast,
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…
When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. Since I come up North de
I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the w… My soul has grown deep like the ri… I bathed in the Euphrates when da… I built my hut near the Congo and…