#AmericanWriters
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 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!
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
Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is… (America never was America to me.…
That Justice is a blind goddess Is a thing to which we black are w… Her bandage hides two festering so… That once perhaps were eyes.
My name is Johnson— Madam Alberta K. The Madam stands for business. I’m smart that way. I had a
In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...
We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run?
Love Is a ripe plum Growing on a purple tree. Taste it once And the spell of its enchantment
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
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.
I would liken you To a night without stars Were it not for your eyes. I would liken you To a sleep without dreams
Children, I come back today To tell you a story of the long da… That I had to climb, that I had t… In order that the race might live… Look at my face —dark as the night…