#AmericanWriters
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,
I got to leave this town. It’s a lonesome place. Got to leave this town cause It’s a lonesome place. A po’, po’ boy can’t
In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...
Love Is a ripe plum Growing on a purple tree. Taste it once And the spell of its enchantment
Big Boy came Carrying a mermaid On his shoulders And the mermaid Had her tail
The census man, The day he came round, Wanted my name To put it down. I said, Johnson,
God in His infinite wisdom Did not make me very wise— So when my actions are stupid They hardly take God by surprise
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.
That Justice is a blind goddess Is a thing to which we black are w… Her bandage hides two festering so… That once perhaps were eyes.
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
By what sends the white kids I ain’t sent: I know I can’t be President.
Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you— Then, it will be true. I wonder if it’s that simple?
It would be nice In any case, To someday meet you Face to face Walking down
I’m all alone in this world, she s… Ain’t got nobody to share my bed, Ain’t got nobody to hold my hand— The truth of the matter’s I ain’t got no man.
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…