#AmericanWriters
When a man starts out with nothing… When a man starts out with his han… Empty, but clean, When a man starts to build a world… He starts first with himself
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
She, In the dark, Found light Brighter than many ever see. She,
My name is Johnson— Madam Alberta K. The Madam stands for business. I’m smart that way. I had a
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…
In an envelope marked: PERSONAL God addressed me a letter. In an envelope marked: PERSONAL
And that is what poetry may do, wrap up your dreams, protect and preserve and hold them until maybe they come true. Columbus dreamed of finding a new world, he found it. Edison dreamed ...
The rent man knocked. He said, Howdy—do? I said, What Can I do for you? He said, You know
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed
The calm, Cool face of the river Asked me for a kiss.
Harlem Sent him home in a long box— Too dead To know why:
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,
Clean the spittoons, boy. Detroit, Chicago, Atlantic City, Palm Beach.
When I get to be a composer I’m gonna write me some music abou… Daybreak in Alabama And I’m gonna put the purtiest so… Rising out of the ground like a sw…
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