#AmericanWriters
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
Landlord, landlord, My roof has sprung a leak. Don’t you 'member I told you abou… Way last week? Landlord, landlord,
How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water
I am God— Without one friend, Alone in my purity World without end. Below me young lovers
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 went to the Gypsy’s. Gypsy settin’ all alone. I said, Tell me, Gypsy, When will my gal be home? Gypsy said, Silver,
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.
Down in the bass That steady beat Walking walking walking Like marching feet. Down in the bass
I catch the pattern Of your silence Before you speak I do not need To hear a word.
God in His infinite wisdom Did not make me very wise— So when my actions are stupid They hardly take God by surprise
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,
My old man’s a white old man And my old mother’s black. If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mot…
Harlem Sent him home in a long box— Too dead To know why:
Clean the spittoons, boy. Detroit, Chicago, Atlantic City, Palm Beach.
From Christ to Ghandi Appears this truth— St. Francis of Assisi Proves it, too: Goodness becomes grandeur