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

We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark

When you turn the corner And you run into yourself Then you know that you have turned All the corners that are left

been scared and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me, Looks like between 'em they done

Good morning, daddy! Ain’t you heard The boogie—woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely:

To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening

In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...

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…

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,

You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.