#Americans #Blacks
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow… I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other ni… By the pale dull pallor of an old…
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh,
How quiet It is in this sick room Where on the bed A silent woman lies between two lo… Life and Death,
God in His infinite wisdom Did not make me very wise— So when my actions are stupid They hardly take God by surprise
I went to the Gypsy’s. Gypsy settin’ all alone. I said, Tell me, Gypsy, When will my gal be home? Gypsy said, Silver,
In places like Selma, Alabama, Kids say, In places like Chicago and New York...
Landlord, landlord, My roof has sprung a leak. Don’t you 'member I told you abou… Way last week? Landlord, landlord,
I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the w… My soul has grown deep like the ri… I bathed in the Euphrates when da… I built my hut near the Congo and…
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
We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark
Clean the spittoons, boy. Detroit, Chicago, Atlantic City, Palm Beach.
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 ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond and jade, Sit silently on their temple shelv… While the people
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
When you turn the corner And you run into yourself Then you know that you have turned All the corners that are left
