#AmericanWriters
We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark
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 sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
Clean the spittoons, boy. Detroit, Chicago, Atlantic City, Palm Beach.
Night funeral In Harlem: Where did they get Them two fine cars? Insurance man, he did not pay—
And that is what poetry may do, wrap up your dreams, protect and preserve and hold them until maybe they come true. Columbus dreamed of finding a new world, he found it. Edison dreamed ...
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed
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
Listen! Dear dream of utter aliveness— Touching my body of utter death— Tell me, O quickly! dream of aliv… The flaming source of your bright…
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams
I will take you heart. I will take your soul out of your… As though I were God. I will not be satisfied With the touch of your hand
Here I sit With my shoes mismated. Lawdy—mercy! I’s frustrated!
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 work all day, Said Simple John, Myself a house to buy. I work all day, Said Simple John,
You and your whole race. Look down upon the town in which y… And be ashamed. Look down upon white folks And upon yourselves