#AmericanWriters
Love Is a ripe plum Growing on a purple tree. Taste it once And the spell of its enchantment
Gather quickly Out of darkness All the songs you know And throw them at the sun Before they melt
Only dumb guys fight. If I wasn’t dumb I wouldn’t be fightin’. I could make six dollars a day On the docks
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
Here I sit With my shoes mismated. Lawdy—mercy! I’s frustrated!
It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream. But it was there then, In front of me, Bright like a sun—
My old mule, He’s gota grin on his face. He’s been a mule so long He’s forgotten about his race. I’m like that old mule —
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…
In an envelope marked: PERSONAL God addressed me a letter. In an envelope marked: PERSONAL
She, In the dark, Found light Brighter than many ever see. She,
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
I was so sick last night I Didn’t hardly know my mind. So sick last night I Didn’t know my mind. I drunk some bad licker that
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…
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh,
We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark