Category Poets

Today I go back to the seaAnd the wind-beaten rise of the foam.Today I go back to the scaAnd it’s just as though I was home. It’s just as though I was home againOn this ship of iron and steam.It’s…

I’m gonna wake up some mornin’ With the sun in my hand. Gonna throw the sun Way across the land— Cause I’m tired, Tired as I can be.Gonna throw the sun In somebody’s face RecreateThe human race— Cause I’m tired,…

Uncle Tom,When he was alive,Filled the white folksFull of jive.But the trouble wasHis jive was bad.Now, thank God,Uncle TomIs dead.

My brother,He never left the old fireside.I was the oneWho liked to ride. I always felt IHad to wander and roam.Never met nobody’s gotWhat it takes to keep me home. Every job I haveI throw away my payAnd raise sand…

I see by the papersWhat seems mighty funny to me.The British are fighting for freedomBut India ain’t free.The colored weeklies tell oneIn the British coloniesThe white man stands on his two feetBut the black man’s on his knees.And they tell…

I see by the papersWhere Mitchell’s won his case.Down South the railroads nowMust give us equal space.Even if we’re rich enoughTo want a Pullman car,The Supreme Court says we get it—And a diner and a bar!Now since the Court in…

Now Walter WhiteIs mighty light.Being a colored manWho looks like white,He can go down SouthWhere a lynching takes placeAnd the white folks neverGuess his race—So he investigatesTo his heart’s desireWhereas if he was brownskinThey’d set him on fire!By being himselfWalter…

Poor, poor fool!No sense at all.Best he can do’sWalk around and not fall. He don’t have no place exceptUp and down the blockIn what’s happening to the worldHe takes no stock. He just sits and grinsAnd laughs in the sunAnd…

One tenth of the populationOf this mighty nationWas sun-tanned by nature long ago,But we’re Americans by birth and trainingSo our country will be gainingWhen every citizen learns to knowThat I’m America’s Young Black Joe! Manly, good natured, smiling and gay,My…

Refugee road, refugee road Where do I go from here? Weary my feet! Heavy the road! My heart is filled with fear. The ones I left far behind—​​​​​​​​​ Home nowhere! Dark winds of trouble moan through my mind​​​​​​​​​ None to…