#AmericanWriters
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.
Down in the bass That steady beat Walking walking walking Like marching feet. Down in the bass
Good morning, daddy! Ain’t you heard The boogie—woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely:
I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn’t, So I jumped in and sank. I came up once and hollered!
You say I O.K.ed LONG DISTANCE? O.K.ed it when? My goodness, Central That was then!
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
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
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams
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
Clean the spittoons, boy. Detroit, Chicago, Atlantic City, Palm Beach.
I am your son, white man! Georgia dusk And the turpentine woods. One of the pillars of the temple f… You are my son!
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,
The gold moth did not love him So, gorgeous, she flew away. But the gray moth circled the flam… Until the break of day. And then, with wings like a dead d…
Tell all my mourners To mourn in red — Cause there ain’t no sense In my bein’ dead.