Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think I suffer after I have held my pain So long? Because my…
Posts published in “Poems”
My life ain’t nothin’ But a lot o’ Gawd-knows-what. I say my life ain’t nothin’ But a lot o’ Gawd-knows-what. Just one thing after ‘nother Added to de trouble that…
You and your whole race. Look down upon the town in which you live And be ashamed. Look down upon white folks And upon yourselves And be ashamed That such…
We do not care- That much is clear. Not enough Of us care Anywhere. We are not wise- For that reason, Mankind dies. To think Is much against The will.…
From Christ to Ghandi Appears this truth- St. Francis of Assisi Proves it, too: Goodness becomes grandeur Surpassing might of kings. Halos of kindness Brighter shine Than crowns of gold,…
Negroes, Sweet and docile, Meek, humble and kind: Beware the day They change their mind! Wind In the cotton fields, Gentle Breeze: Beware the hour It uproots trees!
Being walkers with the dawn and morning, Walkers with the sun and morning, We are not afraid of night, Nor days of gloom, Nor darkness– Being walkers with the sun…
The Negro With the trumpet at his lips Has dark moons of weariness Beneath his eyes where the smoldering memory of slave ships Blazed to the crack of whips about…
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out-stretched, mock-welcome, Christian hands. While underneath Is dirt and ugliness, And rotting hearts, And…
The instructor said, 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? I…
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other night By the pale dull pallor…
I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I…
Children, I come back today To tell you a story of the long dark way That I had to climb, that I had to know In order that the race…
Bring me all of your dreams, You dreamer, Bring me all your Heart melodies That I may wrap them In a blue cloud-cloth Away from the too-rough fingers Of the…
In the morning the city Spreads its wings Making a song In stone that sings. In the evening the city Goes to bed Hanging lights Above its head.
When the shoe strings break On both your shoes And you’re in a hurry- That’s the blues. When you go to buy a candy bar And you’ve lost the dime…
Landlord, landlord, My roof has sprung a leak. Don’t you ‘member I told you about it Way last week? Landlord, landlord, These steps is broken down. When you come up…
When the night winds whistle through the trees and blow the crisp brown leaves a-crackling down, When the autumn moon is big and yellow-orange and round, When old Jack Frost…
I woke up this mornin’ ‘Bout half-past three. All the womens in town Was gathered round me. Sweet gals was a-moanin’, “Sylvester’s gonna die!” And a hundred pretty mamas Bowed…
I been scared and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me, Looks like between ’em they done Tried to make me Stop…
I sat there singing her Songs in the dark. She said; “I do not understand The words”. I said; “There are No words”.
Way Down South in Dixie (Break the heart of me) They hung my black young lover To a cross roads tree. Way Down South in Dixie (Bruised body high in…
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass- Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed To seek a stone To kill him.
I catch the pattern Of your silence Before you speak I do not need To hear a word. In your silence Every tone I seek Is heard.
How quiet It is in this sick room Where on the bed A silent woman lies between two lovers- Life and Death, And all three covered with a sheet of…
How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water To be so still that way.
I would liken you To a night without stars Were it not for your eyes. I would liken you To a sleep without dreams Were it not for your songs.
When the old junk man Death Comes to gather up our bodies And toss them into the sack of oblivion, I wonder if he will find The corpse of a…
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 If one 2 was me?…
Only dumb guys fight. If I wasn’t dumb I wouldn’t be fightin’. I could make six dollars a day On the docks And I’d save more than I do now.…
When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. Since I come up North de Whole damn world’s turned cold. I…
I work all day, Said Simple John, Myself a house to buy. I work all day, Said Simple John, But Pierrot wondered why. For Pierrrot loved the long white road,…
In an envelope marked: PERSONAL God addressed me a letter. In an envelope marked: PERSONAL I have given my answer.
We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark They could not see Who had gained The victory.
I live on a park bench. You, Park Avenue. Hell of a distance Between us two. I beg a dime for dinner- You got a butler and maid. But I’m…
Now dreams Are not available To the dreamers, Nor songs To the singers. In some lands Dark night And cold steel Prevail But the dream Will come back, And the…
Night funeral In Harlem: Where did they get Them two fine cars? Insurance man, he did not pay– His insurance lapsed the other day– Yet they got a satin box…
“Me an’ ma baby’s Got two mo’ ways, Two mo’ ways to do de Charleston!” Da, da, Da, da, da! Two mo’ ways to do de Charleston!” Soft light on…
The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, is the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls…
I play it cool I dig all jive That’s the reason I stay alive My motto As I live and learn Is dig and be dug in return
Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on…
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 Almost made me…
COLORED CHILD AT CARNIVAL 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 Can’t sit…
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 — Black — and don’t…
My name is Johnson– Madam Alberta K. The Madam stands for business. I’m smart that way. I had a HAIR-DRESSING PARLOR Before The depression put The prices lower. Then I…
The rent man knocked. He said, Howdy-do? I said, What Can I do for you? He said, You know Your rent is due. I said, Listen, Before I’d pay I’d…
You say I O.K.ed LONG DISTANCE? O.K.ed it when? My goodness, Central That was then! I’m mad and disgusted With that Negro now. I don’t pay no REVERSED CHARGES nohow.…
The census man, The day he came round, Wanted my name To put it down. I said, JOHNSON, ALBERTA K. But he hated to write The K that way. He…
I worked for a woman, She wasn’t mean– But she had a twelve-room House to clean. Had to get breakfast, Dinner, and supper, too– Then take care of her children…