#AmericanWriters
I would liken you To a night without stars Were it not for your eyes. I would liken you To a sleep without dreams
Gather quickly Out of darkness All the songs you know And throw them at the sun Before they melt
Here I sit With my shoes mismated. Lawdy—mercy! I’s frustrated!
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
In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...
I take my dreams and make of them… and a round fountain with a beauti… And a song with a broken heart and… Do you understand my dreams? Sometimes you say you do,
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…
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
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 dream a world where man No other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run?
The census man, The day he came round, Wanted my name To put it down. I said, Johnson,
I got to leave this town. It’s a lonesome place. Got to leave this town cause It’s a lonesome place. A po’, po’ boy can’t
Democracy will not come Today, this year Nor ever Through compromise and fear. I have as much right
I went to the Gypsy’s. Gypsy settin’ all alone. I said, Tell me, Gypsy, When will my gal be home? Gypsy said, Silver,