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Category Poets

Prelude to Our Age: A Negro History

History’s long pageRecords the whole vastPrelude to our age.Across the chaptersof recorded timeShadows of so many handsHave fallen,Among them mine: Negro.At first onlyThe spoken word of bard or chief,That carried instant historyAcross the night,Or linked man with the mysteryOf powers…

Kid in the Park

Lonely little question markon a bench in the park: See the people passing by?See the airplanes in the sky?See the birdsflying homebeforedark? Home’s just aroundthe cornerthere—but not reallyanywhere.

Island [1]

Wave of sorrow,Do not drown me now. I see the islandStill ahead somehow. I see the islandAnd its sands are fair: Wave of sorrow,Take me there.

Catch

Big Boy cameCarrying a mermaidOn his shouldersAnd the mermaidHad her tailCurvedBeneath his arm. Being a fisher boy,He’d found a fishTo carry—Half fish,Half girlTo marry.

Down Where I Am

Too many yearsBeatin’ at the door—I done beat myBoth fists sore. Too many yearsTryin’ to get up there—Done broke my ankles down,Got nowhere. Too many yearsClimbin’ that hill,‘Bout out of breath.I got my fill. I’m gonna plant my feetOn solid…

To Be Somebody

Little girlDreaming of a baby grand piano(Not knowing there’s a Steinway bigger, bigger)Dreaming of a baby grand to playThat stretches paddle-tailed across the floor,Not standing uprightLike a bad boy in the corner,But sending musicUp the stairs and down the stairsAnd…

Interne at Provident

White coatsWhite apronsWhite dressesWhite shoesPain and a learningTo take away to Alabama.Practice on a State Street cancer,Practice on a stockyards rupture,Practice on the small appendixOf 26-girl at the corner,Learning skills of surgeonsBrown and wonderful with longingTo cure ills of Africa,Democracy,And…

Jitney

CornersOf South Parkway:Eccoooooo!Cab!31st,35th,39th,43rd,Girl, ain’t you heard?No, Martha, I ain’t heard.I got a Chinese boy-friendDown on 43rd.47th,51st,55th,63rd,Martha’s got a Japanese!Child, ain’t you heard?55th,51st,47th,Here’s your fare!Lemme out! I’m going to the Regal,See what this week’s jive is all about:The Duke is mellow!Hibbler’s…

Third Degree

Hit me! Jab me!Make me say I did it.Blood on my sport shirtAnd my tan suede shoes. Faces like jack-o’-lanternsIn gray slouch hats. Slug me! Beat me!Scream jumps outLike blowtorch.Three kicks between the legsThat kill the kidsI’d make tomorrow. Bars…

Migrant

(Chicago) Daddy-oBuddy-oWorks at the foundry.Daddy-oBuddy-oRides the State Street street car,Transfers to the West Side,Polish, Bohunk, Irish,Grabs a load of sunriseAs he rides out on the prairie,Never knew DuSable,Has a lunch to carry. Iron lifting ironMakes iron of chocolate muscles.Iron lifting…