Leave me and my name Just like I am! Furthermore, rub out That MRS., too- I'll have you know I'm Madam to you! Dream Boogie Good morning, daddy! Ain't you heard The boogie-woogie rumble Of a dream deferred? Listen closely; You'll hear their feet Beating out and beating out a- You think It's a happy beat? Listen to it closely; Ain't you heard something underneath like a- What did I say? Sure, I'm happy! Take it away! Hey, pop! Re-bop! Mop! Y-e-a-h! Parade Seven ladies and seventeen gentlemen at the Elks Club Lounge planning planning a parade: Grand Marshal in his white suit will lead it. Cadilacs with dignitaries will precede it. And behind will come with band and drum on foot... on foot... on foot... Motorcycle cops, white, will speed it out of sight if they can; Solid black, can't be right. Marching... marching... marching... noon till night... I never knew that many Negroes were on earth, did you? I never knew! PARADE A chance to let PARADE the whole world see PARADE old black me! Children's Rhymes When I was a chile we used to play, One-two-buckle my shoe! and things like that. But now, Lord, listen at them little varmints! By what sends the white kids I ain't sent: I know I can't be President. There is two thousand children in this block, I do believe! What don't bug then white kids sure bugs me; We knows everybody ain't free! Some of these young ones us cert'ly bad- One batted a hard ball right through my window and my gold fish et the glass. What's written down for white folks ain't for us a-tall; Liberty And Justice- Huh-For All. Oop-pop-a-da! Skee! Daddle-de-do! Be-bop! Salt'peanuts! De-dop! Sister That little Negro's married and got a kid. Why does he keep on foolin' around Marie? Marie's my sister-not married to me- But why does he keep on foolin' around Marie? Why don't she get a boy-friend I can understand-some decent man? Did it ever occur to you, son, the reason Marie runs around with trash is she wants some cash? Don't decent folks have dough? Unfortunately usually no! Well, anyway, it don't have to be a married man. Did it ever occur to you, boy, that a woman does the best she can? Comment on Stoop So does a man. Preference I likes a woman six or eight and ten years older'n myself. I don't fool with these young girls. Young girl'll say, Daddy, I want so-and-so. I needs this, that, and the other. But a old woman'll say, Honey, what does YOU need? I just drawed my money tonight and it's all your'n That's why I likes a older woman who can appreciate me: When she conversations you it ain't forever, Gimme! Necessity Work? I don't have to work. I don't have to do nothing but eat, drink, stay black, and die. This little old furnished room's so small I can't whip a cat without getting fur in my mouth and my landlady's so old her features us all run together and God knows she sure can overcharge- Which is why I reckon I does have to work after all. Question Said the lady, Can you do what my other man can't do- That is love me, daddy- and feed me, too? Figurine De-dop! Buddy That kid's my buddy, still and yet I don't see him much. He works downtown for Twelve a week. Has to give his mother Ten- she says he can have the other Two to pay his carfare, buy a suit, coat, shoes, anything he wants out of it. Juke Box Love Song I could take the Harlem night and wrap around you, Take the neon lights and make a crown, Take the Lenox Avenue busses, Taxis, subways, And for your love song tone their rumble down. Take Harlem's heartbeat, Make a drumbeat, Put it on a record, let it whirl, And while we listen to it play, Dance with you till day- Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl. Ultimatum Baby, how come you can't see me when I'm paying your bills each and every week? If you got somebody else, tell me- else I'll cut you off without your rent, I mean without a cent. Warning Daddy, don't let your dog curb you! Croon I don't give a damn For Alabam' Even if it is my home. New Yorkers I was born here, that's no lie, he said, right here beneath God's sky. I wasn't born here, she said, I come-and why? Where I come from folks work hard all their lives until they die and never own no parts of earth nor sky So I come up here. Now what've I got? You! She lifted up her lips in the dark: The same old spark! Wonder Early blue evening. Lights ain't come on yet. Looky yonder! They come on now! Easy Boogie Down in the bass That steady beat Walking walking walking Like marching feet. Movies The Roosevelt, Renaissance, Gem, Alhambra: Harlem Laughing in all the wrong places at the crocodile tears of crocodile art that you know in your heart is crocodile: (Hollywood laughs at me, black-- so I laugh back.) Tell Me Why should it bemyloneliness, Why should it bemysong, Why should it bemydream deferred overlong? Not a Movie Well, they rocked him with road-apples because he tried to vote and whipped his head with clubs and he crawled on his knees to his house and he got the midnight train and he crossed that Dixie line now he's livin' on a 133rd. He didn't stop in Washington and he didn't stop in Baltimore neither in Newark on the way. Six knots was on his head but, thank God, he wasn'r dead! And there ain't no Ku Klux on a 133rd Neon Signs WONDER BAR WISHING WELL MONTEREY MINTON'S (ancient altar of Thelonious) MANDALAY Spots where the booted and unbooted play SMALL'S CASBAH SHALIMAR Mirror-go-round where a broken glass in the early bright smears re-bop sound Numbers If I ever hit for a dollar gonna salt every dime away in the Post Office for a rainy day. I ain't gonna play back a cent. (Of course, I might combinatea little with my rent.) What? So Soon! I believe my old lady's pregnant again! Fate must have some kind of trickeration to populate the cullud nation! Comment against Lamp Post You call it fate? Figurette De-daddle-dy! De-dop! Motto I play it cool And dig all jive. That's the reason I stay alive. My motto, As I live and learn, is: Dig and Be Dug In Return Dead in There Sometimes A night funeral Going by Carries home A cool bop daddy. Hearse and flowers Guarantee He'll never hype Another paddy. It's hard to believe, But dead in there, He'll never lay a Hype nowhere! He's my ace-boy, Gone away. Wake up and live! He used to say. Squares Who couldn't dig him, Plant him now-- Out where it makes No diff' no how. Situation When I rolled three 7's in a row I was scared to walk out with the dough. Dancer Two or three things in the past failed him that had not failed people of lesser genius. In the first place he didn't have much sense. He was no good at making love and no good at making money. So he tapped, trucked, boogied, sanded, jittered, until he made folks say, Looky yonder at that boy! Hey! But being no good at lovin'-- the girls left him. (When you're no good for dough they go.) With no sense, just wonderful feet, What could possibly be all-reet? Did he get anywhere? No! Even a great dancer can't C.P.T. a show. Advice Folks, I'm telling you, birthing is hard and dying is mean-- so get yourself a little loving in between. Green Memory A wonderful time--the War: when money rolled in and blood rolled out. But blood was far away from here-- Money was near. Wine-O Setting in the wine-house Soaking up a wine-souse Waiting for tomorrow to come-- Then Setting in the wine-house Soaking up a new souse. Tomorrow... Oh, hum! Relief My heart is aching for them Poles and Greeks on relief way across the sea because I was on relief once in 1933 I know what relief can be-- it took me two years to get on WPA. If the war hadn't come along I wouldn't be out the barrel yet. Now, I'm almost back in the barrel again. To tell the truth, if these white folks want to go ahead and fight another war, or even two, the one to stop 'em won't be me. Would you? Ballad of the Landlord Landlord, landlord, My roof has sprung a leak. Don't you 'member I told you about it Way last week? Landlord, landlord These steps is broken down. When you come up yourself It's a wonder you don't fall down Ten Bucks you say I owe you? Ten Bucks you say is due? Well, that's Ten Bucks more'n I'll pay you Till you fix this house up new. What? You gonna get eviction orders? You gonna cut off my heat? You gonna take my furniture and Throw it in the street? Um-huh! You talking high and mighty. Talk on--till you get through. You ain't gonna be able to say a word If I land my fist on you. Police! Police! Come get this man! He's trying to ruin the government And overturn the land! Copper's whistle! Patrol Bell! Arrest. Precinct Station. Iron cell. Headlines in press: MAN THREATENS LANDLORD TENANT HELD ON BAIL JUDGE GIVE NEGRO 90 DAYS IN COUNTY JAIL Corner Meeting Ladder, flag, and amplifier what the soap box used to be The speaker catches fire looking at their faces. His words jump down to stand in listeners' places. Projection On the day when the Savoy leaps clean over to Seventh Avenue and starts jitterbugging with the Renaissance, on that day when Abyssinia Baptist Church throws her enormous arms around St. James Presbyterian and 409 Edgecombe stoops to kiss 12 West 133rd, on that day-- Do, Jesus! Manhattan Island will whirl like a Dizzy Gillespie transcription played by Inez and Timmie. On that day, Lord, Sammy Davis and Marian Anderson will sing a duet Paul Robeson will team up with Jackie Mabley and Father Divine will say in truth, Peace! It's truly wonderful! Flatted Fifths Little cullud boys with beards re-bop be-bop mop and stop Little cullud boys with fears, frantic, kick their draftee years into flatted and flatter beers that at a sudden change become sparkling Oriental wines rich and strange silken bathrobes with gold twines and Heilbroner, Crawford, Nat-undreamed-of Lewis combines in silver thread and diamond notes on trade-marks inside Howard coats Little cullud boys in berets oop pop-a-da horse a fantasy of days ool ya koo and dig all plays. Tomorrow Tomorrow may be a thousand years off TWO DIMES AND A NICKLE ONLY says this particular cigarette machine Some dawns wait. Mellow Intro the lap of black celebrities white girls fall like pale plums from a tree beyond a high tension wall which makes it more thrilling. Live and Let Live Maybe it ain't right- but the people of the night will give even a snake a break. Gauge Hemp . . . A stick . . A roach . . Straw . . more thrilling. Bar That whiskey will cook the egg say not so Maybe the egg will cook the whiskey. You ought to know! Cafe: 3 A.M. Detectives from the vice squad - with weary sadistic eyes spotting fairies. Degenerates Some folks say But God,Nature or somebody made them that way Police lady or Lesbian over there? Where? Request Gimme $25.00 and the change. I'm going where the morning and the evening won't bother me. Shame on You If you're great enough and clever enough the government might honor you. But the people will forget -- Except on holidays. A movie house in Harlem named after Lincoln, Nothing at all named after John Brown. Black people don't remember any better than white If you're not alive and kicking, shame on you! World War II What a grand time was the war! Oh, my, my! What a grand time was the war! My, my, my! In wartime we had fun, Sorry that old war is done! What a grand time was the war, My, my! Echo: Did Somebody Die? Mystery When a chile gets to be thirteen and ain't seen Christ yet, she needs to set on de moaner's bench night and day. Jesus, lover of my soul! Hail, Mary, mother of God! Let me to thy bosom fly! Amen! Hallelujah! Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home. Sunday morning where the rhythm flows, how old nobody knows -- yet old as mystery, older than creed, basic and wondering and lost as my need. Eli, eli! Te deum! Mahomet! Christ! Father, Bishop, Effendi, Mother Horne. Father Drive, a Rabbi black as black was born a jack-leg preacher, a PH.D. The mystery and the darkness and the song and me. Sliver of Sermon When pimps out of loneliness cry: Great God! Whores in final weariness say: Great God! Oh, God! My God! Great God! Testimonial If I just had a piano, if I just had a organ, if I just had a drum, how I could praise my Lord! But I don't need no piano, neither organ nor drum for to praise my Lord Passing On sunny summer Sunday afternoons in Harlem when the air is one interminable ball game and grandma cannot get her gospel hymns from the Saints of God in Christ on account of the Dodgers on the radio, on sunny Sunday afternoons when the kids look all new and far too clean to stay that way, and Harlem has its washed-and-ironed-and-cleaned-best out, the ones who've crossed the line to live downtown miss you, Harlem of the bitter dream since their dream has come true. Nightmare Boogie I had a dream and I could see a million faces black as me! A nightmare dream: Quicker than light All them faces Turned dead white| Boogie-woogie, Rolling bass, Whirling treble of cat-gut lace. Sunday by the Combination I feel like dancin', baby, till the sun goes down. But I wonder where the sunrise Monday morning's gonna be? I feel like dancin'! Baby, dance with me! Casualty He was a soldier in the army, But he doesn't walk like one. He walks like his soldiering * Days are done. Son! ... Son! Night Funeral in Harlem Night funeral In Harlem: Where did they get Them two fine cars? Insurance man, he did not pay -- His insurance lapsed the other day -- Yet they got a satin box For his head to lay. Night funeral in Harlem: Who was it sent That wreath of flowers? Them flowers came from that poor boy's friends- They'll want flowers, too, When they meet their ends. Night funeral in Harlem: Who preached that Black boy to his grave? Old preacher-man Preached that boy away- Charged Five Dollars His girl friend had to pay. Night funeral in Harlem: When it was all over And the lid shut on his head and the organ had done played and the last prayers been said and six pallbearers Carried him out for dead And off down Lenox Avenue That long black hearse done sped, The streetlight At his corner Shined just like a tear- That boy that they was mournin' Was so dear, so dear To them folks that brought the flowers, To that girl who paid the preacher man- It was all their tears that made That poor boy's Funeral grand. Night funeral In Harlem. Blues at Dawn I don't dare start thinking in the morning. I don't dare start thinking in the morning. If I thought thoughts in bed, Them thoughts would bust my head- So I don't dare start thinking in the morning. I don't dare remember in the morning Don't dare remember in the morning. If I recall the day before, I wouldn't get up no more- So I don't dare remember in the morning. Dime Chile, these steps is hard to climb. Grandma, lend me a dime. Montage of a dream deferred: Grandma acts like She ain't heard. Chile, Granny ain't got no dime. I might've knowed It all the time. Argument White is right, Yellow mellow, Black, get back! Do you believe that, Jack? Sure do! Then you're a dope, for which there ain't no hope. Black is fine! And, God knows, It's mine! Neighbor Down home he sets on a stoop and watches the sun go by. In Harlem when his work is done he sets in a bar with a beer. He looks taller than he is and younger than he ain't. He looks darker than he is, too. And he's smarter than he looks, He ain't smart. That cat's a fool. Now he ain't neither. He's a good man, except he talks too much. In fact, he's a great cat. But when he drinks, he drinks fast. Sometimes he don't drink. True, he just lets his glass set there. Evening Song A woman standing in the doorway Trying to make her where-with-all: Come here, baby, darlin'! Don't you hear me call? If I was anybody's sister, I'd tell her, Gimme a place to sleep. But I ain't nobody's sister. I'm just a poor lost sheep. Mary, Mary, Mary, Had a little lamb. Well, I hope that lamb of Mary's Don't turn out like I am. Chord Shadow faces In the shadow night Before the early dawn Bops bright. Fact There's been an eagle on a nickel, An eagle on a quarter, too. But there ain;t no eagle On a dime. Joe Louis They worshipped Joe. A school teacher whose hair was gray said: Joe has sense enough to know He is a god. So many gods don't know. "They say" ... "They say" ... "They say" ... But the gossips had no "They say" to latch onto for Joe. Subway Rush Hour Mingled breath and smell* so close mingled black and white so near no room for fear Brothers We're related-you and I, You from the West Indies, I from Kentucky. Kinsmen- you and I, You from Africa, I from the USA. Brothers-you and I. Likewise The Jews: Groceries Suits Fruits Watches Diamond rings THE DAILY NEWS Jews sell me things. Yom Kippur, no! Shops all over Harlem close up tight that night. Some folks blame high prices on the Jews. (Some folks blame too much on Jews.) But in Harlem they don't answer back, Just maybe shrug their shoulders, "What's the use?" What's the use in Harlem? What's the use? What's the Harlem? Use in Harlem Hey! Baba-re-bop! Mop! On a be-bop kick! Sometimes I think Jews have heard the music of a dream deferred. Silver Cheap little rhymes A cheap little tune Are sometimes as dangerous As a sliver of the moon. A cheap little tune To cheap little rhymes Can cut a man's Throat sometimes. Hope He rose up on his dying bed and asked for fish. His wife looked it up in her dream book and played it. Dream Boogie: Variation Tinkling treble, Rolling bass, High noon teeth In a midnight face, Great long fingers On great big hands, Screaming pedals Where his twelve-shoe lands, Looks like his eyes Are teasing pain, A few minutes late For the Freedom Train. Harlem What happens to a dream deffered? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Good Morning Good morning, daddy! I was born here, he said, watched Harlem grow until colored folks spread from river to river across the middle of Manhatten out of Penn Station dark tenth of a nation, planes from Puerto Rico and holds of boats, chico, up from Cuba Haiti Jamaica in buses marked New York from Georgia Florida Louisiana to Harlem Brookly the Bronx but most of all to Harlem dusky sash across Manhattan I've seen them come dark wondering wide-eyed dreaming out of Penn Station- but the trains are late. The gates open- but the trains are late. The gates open- Yet there're bars at each gate. What happens to a dream deferred? Daddy, ain't you heard? Same in Blues I said to my baby, Baby, take it slow. I can't, she said, I can't! I got to go! There's a certain amount of traveling in a dream deferred. Lulu said to leonard, I want a diamond ring. Leonard said to Lulu, You won't get a goddamn thing! A certain amount of nothing in a dream deferrred. Daddy, daddy, daddy, All I want is you. You can have me, baby- but my lovin' days is through. A certain amount of impotence in a dream deferrred. Three parties On my party line- But that third party, Lord, ain't mine! There's liable to be confusion in a dream deferred. From river to river, Uptown and Down, There's liable to be confusion when a dream gets kicked around. Comment on Curb You talk like They don't kick dreams around downtown. I expect they do- But I'm talking about Harlem to you! Letter Dear Mama, Time I pay rent and get my food and laundry I don't have much left but here is five dollars for you to show you I still appreciates you. My girl-friend send her love and say she hopes to lay eyes on you sometime in life. Mama, it has been raining cats and dogs up here. Well, that is all so I will close. Your son baby Respectably as ever, Joe Island Between two rivers, North of the park, Like darker rivers The streets are dark. Black and white, Gold and brown- Chocolate-custard Pie of a town. Dream within a dream, Our dream deferred. Good morning, daddy! Ain't you heard?