#AmericanWriters
Big Boy came Carrying a mermaid On his shoulders And the mermaid Had her tail
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
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
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed
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…
I woke up this mornin’ ’Bout half-past three. All the womens in town Was gathered round me. Sweet gals was a-moanin’,
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
You and your whole race. Look down upon the town in which y… And be ashamed. Look down upon white folks And upon yourselves
My name is Johnson— Madam Alberta K. The Madam stands for business. I’m smart that way. I had a
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
In the Quarter of the Negroes Where the doors are doors of paper Dust of dingy atoms Blows a scratchy sound. Amorphous jack—o’—Lanterns caper
How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water
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…
Goin’ down the road, Lawd, Goin’ down the road. Down the road, Lawd, Way, way down the road. Got to find somebody
2 and 2 are 4. 4 and 4 are 8. But what would happen If the last 4 was late? And how would it be