MAP #172-1 Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance
Destiny
(for
Langston Hughes) by LeVan Hawkins
Excuse
me for disturbing your peace
But
I rob dead men's graves seeking
Bones
of wisdom.
Angry
fists on the periphery
Have
left me wanting.
The
women who do men's work
Cannot
teach me what it is to be a man.
I
migrated north seeking the manna
Father
withheld from my dinner table.
Northern
men versed in Leviticus
Slammed
their door upon my arrival.
I
have wept ink upon a forest
But
the brethren would not hear.
I
scraped my words from the page
And
returned them to my heart
Still,
they would not listen.
So,
I have come to you, Poet
To
learn what it is to be man.
The
poet replies:
I
cannot teach you what is God-ordained
But
I will tell you
The
brethren will become lost
And
a scout will come searching;
The
words will be there.
Thousands
will stay behind
But
someone
Will
come searching.
I
welcome
You,
friend.
No
apology is necessary
I,
too have wept ink upon a forest.
A
table has been set for your arrival -
Smile
and accept your fate.
There
are workers in the watchtower -
They
will guide you.
Unleash
your words and
Turn
them into a simple song
Take
your heart and let it play.
©
LeVan D. Hawkins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2.
Deep Rivers by Maritza Rivera
Like
rivers that flow
etched
deeply in the earth...
(my
nails grow long with anticipation).
Like
rivers that crest
after
a long awaited rain...
(they
eagerly imbed your ready flesh
and
slowly drag along the smoothness of your skin).
Like
rivers that ebb
in
the calm of a storm...
(they
leave silent streaks of evanescent pain
that
fade and disappear in the absence of my touch).
My
nails have grow long
like
rivers.
©
Maritza Rivera
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.
jass by Jerry Hoff
what
a time to be a man langston
to
be
on
the edge
of
a moment in harlem
to
be free to live
without
notice
and
travel and write
and
find a way through the
alchoholic
haze (and
other
poisons)
of
the lost generation
you
and richard
should
have been nicer
to
Hurston--she didn't even
know
any whites
till
she went to high school
she
wasn't sucking up
they
were just
interesting
she
was an anthropologist
not
a politician
how
deep and wide
was
the pride langston
what
was that like
that
trumpet man from chicago
and
the duke
nobody
ever played
that
way before
nobody
what a time
©
2001 Jerry Hoff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4.
Shh! whisper beat by James Thompson
Shh!
whisper
beat
slow
toe piano stroll
quiet monk
down
the keys
through
the stacks
oh
the horn
so
soft and sweet
down
aisles
past
miles, so dizzy
gentle
pads
and
jazzy verse
snap
the fingers
tap
the tap
syncopate
but
shh! shh!
quiet
rhythm
langston
rhymes
and
a soulful moan
saxophone
the
trane and bird
between
the pages
in
the books
finger
dance with me
jazz
library
©
James M. Thompson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5.
Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance by Marvin Kimbrough
The
un-Civil was was over
And
WW I was over and the "Red Summer" was, too
And
Frederick Douglass was dead
And
Booker T. Washington was dead
And
the Ku Klux Klan was onmipresent
And
Jim Crow was crowned King
And
Lady Day was singing sad songs
About
"Strange Fruit" hanging from trees
And
W. E. B. DuBois was putting an African song in his book
With
words he didn't understand
But
he put them there because his African grandmother sang them
And
the sons and daughters of Africa ascended onto Harlem
The
Mecca, the dream catcher, keeper of dreams,
the
protector of dreams
And
Langston Hughes instructed them to "Hold Fast to Dreams"
And
James Weldon Johnson bid the African sons and daughters to: "Lift
every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, ring with the
harmonies of liberty"
And
they did
And
they came to Harlem, the ordinary and the extraordinary came
They
came from all points, north and south, east and west
Claude
McKay from Jamaica, Zora Neale Hurston from the all-black town of
Eatonville, Florida; Mata Warrich Fuller and Alain Locke from
Philadelphia, Aaron Douglas from Kansas, James Van Der Zee from
Massachusetts, Louis Armstrong from New Orleans by way of Chicago and
Gwendolyn Benett from Giddings, Texas
And
they all held fast to their dreams
Marian
Anderson built a career in classical music
Thomas
A. Dorsey introduced gospel, while Nathaniel Dett, Harry Burleigh and
J. Rosmond Johnson composed spirituals and William Grant Still
composed
symphonies
And
Langston Hughes, the "Shakespeare" of Harlem, composed
poems and plays, sories and essays, arias and operas.
And
Van Der Zee recorded Harlem life on film.
And
the people, the sons and daughters of Africa,
danced
the lindy, the shimmy, the snake hips and the Susie Que and the
trucked and they held down day jobs and night jobs, and week-end jobs
And
when times were hard and money was "tight", the
sold
plate after plate of chittlins and collard greens and sweet potatoes
at rent parties
And
they sang and prayed and praised God on Sunday
But,
in time, the Great Depression came
And
Langston and all the sons and daughters of Africa
realized
"Dreams can lie"
And
Harlem became a "Dream Deferred"
©
2001 Marvin G. Kimbrough
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6.
R U a Brudder by Danzr Von-Thai
for
Langston Hughes
...without
madness one knocks at the doors of poetry in vain
-- Plato
(Phaedrus)
warship
of azure
burn
ebony roots to smoke
dome
hovering blue
take
no pride in yesterday
we
all stand as slaves today
hi
jack dead as christ
must
join the resurrection
right
now is tomorrow's war
light
the way and torch the hue
thus
dam the ignorant fool
for
hour free dumb is prison
that
future bastard kicks wombs
innocence
rarely protects
spend
every dime
leave
ya blind
what
ain't stolen
be
borrowed in time
©
Danzr Von-Thai
http://home.infospace.com/woodstkr1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7.
If you know Larry Jaffe, then you know he loves Langston
Langston
Hughes Weary Blues
Langston
Hughes sings them
weary
blues and my heart just wants
to
break at his lines.
©
2001 lgjaffe