#AmericanWriters
I could take the Harlem night and wrap around you, Take the neon lights and make a cr… Take the Lenox Avenue busses, Taxis, subways,
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
Remember The days of bondage— And remembering— Do not stand still. Go to the highest hill
In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow… I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other ni… By the pale dull pallor of an old…
From Christ to Ghandi Appears this truth— St. Francis of Assisi Proves it, too: Goodness becomes grandeur
I would liken you To a night without stars Were it not for your eyes. I would liken you To a sleep without dreams
I am God— Without one friend, Alone in my purity World without end. Below me young lovers
You say I O.K.ed LONG DISTANCE? O.K.ed it when? My goodness, Central That was then!
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,
Here I sit With my shoes mismated. Lawdy—mercy! I’s frustrated!
The census man, The day he came round, Wanted my name To put it down. I said, Johnson,
been scared and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me, Looks like between 'em they done
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
Gather quickly Out of darkness All the songs you know And throw them at the sun Before they melt