#AmericanWriters
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed
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,
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
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, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh,
Let’s go see Old Abe Sitting in the marble and the moon… Sitting lonely in the marble and t… Quiet for ten thousand centuries,… Quiet for a million, million years…
The rent man knocked. He said, Howdy—do? I said, What Can I do for you? He said, You know
Harlem Sent him home in a long box— Too dead To know why:
God in His infinite wisdom Did not make me very wise— So when my actions are stupid They hardly take God by surprise
Oh, silver tree! Oh, shining rivers of the soul! In a Harlem cabaret Six long—headed jazzers play. A dancing girl whose eyes are bold
I worked for a woman, She wasn’t mean— But she had a twelve—room House to clean. Had to get breakfast,
Fine living . . . a la carte? Come to the Waldorf—Astoria! LISTEN HUNGRY ONES! Look! See what Vanity Fair says… new Waldorf—Astoria:
I woke up this mornin’ ’Bout half-past three. All the womens in town Was gathered round me. Sweet gals was a-moanin’,
Big Boy came Carrying a mermaid On his shoulders And the mermaid Had her tail
Good morning, daddy! Ain’t you heard The boogie—woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely: