#Americans #Blacks
I work all day, Said Simple John, Myself a house to buy. I work all day, Said Simple John,
When the shoe strings break On both your shoes And you’re in a hurry— That’s the blues. When you go to buy a candy bar
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh,
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
Big Boy came Carrying a mermaid On his shoulders And the mermaid Had her tail
The gold moth did not love him So, gorgeous, she flew away. But the gray moth circled the flam… Until the break of day. And then, with wings like a dead d…
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams
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.
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
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.
It would be nice In any case, To someday meet you Face to face Walking down
Now dreams Are not available To the dreamers, Nor songs To the singers.
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
It’s such a Bore Being always Poor.
The ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond and jade, Sit silently on their temple shelv… While the people
