#AmericanWriters #BlackWriters #FreeVerse #RaceAndEthnicity #SocialCommentaries & Heroes Patriotism,
The ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond and jade, Sit silently on their temple shelv… While the people
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…
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams
God in His infinite wisdom Did not make me very wise— So when my actions are stupid They hardly take God by surprise
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…
When the old junk man Death Comes to gather up our bodies And toss them into the sack of obl… I wonder if he will find The corpse of a white multi—millio…
'Me an’ ma baby’s Got two mo’ ways, Two mo’ ways to do de Charleston!… Da, da, Da, da, da!
My old mule, He’s gota grin on his face. He’s been a mule so long He’s forgotten about his race. I’m like that old mule —
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed
I dream a world where man No other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all
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
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
Remember The days of bondage— And remembering— Do not stand still. Go to the highest hill
By what sends the white kids I ain’t sent: I know I can’t be President.
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…