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Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

Dinner Guest: Me

I know I am
The Negro Problem
Being wined and dined,
Answering the usual questions
That come to white mind
Which seeks demurely
To Probe in polite way
The why and wherewithal
Of darkness U.S.A.—
Wondering how things got this way
In current democratic night,
Murmuring gently
Over fraises du bois,
“I’m so ashamed of being white.”
 
The lobster is delicious,
The wine divine,
And center of attention
At the damask table, mine.
To be a Problem on
Park Avenue at eight
Is not so bad.
Solutions to the Problem,
Of course, wait.

#AmericanWriters

Altre opere di Langston Hughes...
Bound No’th Blues

Goin’ down the road, Lawd, Goin’ down the road. Down the road, Lawd, Way, way down the road. Got to find somebody
Bad Morning

Here I sit With my shoes mismated. Lawdy—mercy! I’s frustrated!
I look at the world

I look at the world From awakening eyes in a black fac… And this is what I see: This fenced—off narrow space Assigned to me.
 1
God

I am God— Without one friend, Alone in my purity World without end. Below me young lovers
 1
The Fourth Estate, by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo
Oppression

Now dreams Are not available To the dreamers, Nor songs To the singers.
 1
Helen Adams Keller, by Charles Whitman
Helen Keller

She, In the dark, Found light Brighter than many ever see. She,
 2
50-50

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.
The card trick, by John George Brown
Democracy

Democracy will not come Today, this year Nor ever Through compromise and fear. I have as much right
Daybreak in Alabama

When I get to be a composer I’m gonna write me some music abou… Daybreak in Alabama And I’m gonna put the purtiest so… Rising out of the ground like a sw…
 1
Sylvester’s Dying Bed

I woke up this mornin’ ’Bout half-past three. All the womens in town Was gathered round me. Sweet gals was a-moanin’,
 1
Deceased

Harlem Sent him home in a long box— Too dead To know why:
Justice

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.
 3
Cultural Exchange

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
Madam and Her Madam

I worked for a woman, She wasn’t mean— But she had a twelve—room House to clean. Had to get breakfast,
Madam's Past History

My name is Johnson— Madam Alberta K. The Madam stands for business. I’m smart that way. I had a



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