#AmericanWriters
I take my dreams and make of them… and a round fountain with a beauti… And a song with a broken heart and… Do you understand my dreams? Sometimes you say you do,
The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, is the sun.
I sat there singing her Songs in the dark. She said; 'I do not understand The words’.
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run?
I would liken you To a night without stars Were it not for your eyes. I would liken you To a sleep without dreams
My name is Johnson— Madam Alberta K. The Madam stands for business. I’m smart that way. I had a
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…
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
The census man, The day he came round, Wanted my name To put it down. I said, Johnson,
Where is the Jim Crow section On this merry—go—round, Mister, cause I want to ride? Down South where I come from White and colored
I dream a world where man No other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all
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…
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.
Clean the spittoons, boy. Detroit, Chicago, Atlantic City, Palm Beach.
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind