Sometimes a crumb fallsFrom the tables of joy, Sometimes a boneIs flung.To some peopleLove is given, To othersOnly heaven.

I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.

Out of love,No regrets–Though the goodnessBe wasted forever.Out of love,No regrets–Though the returnBe never.

Cheap little rhymesA cheap little tuneAre sometimes as dangerousAs a sliver of the moon.

HarlemWhat happens to a dream deferred?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?

Hold fast to dreamsfor if dreams dielife is a broken-winged birdthat can not fly.Hold fast to dreamsfor when dreams golife is a barren fieldfrozen with snow.

I stay cool, and dig all jive,That’s the way I stay alive.My motto, as I live and learn, isDig and be dugIn return.

Good morning, daddy!Ain’t you heardThe boogie-woogie rumbleOf a dream deferred?Listen closely:You’ll hear their feetBeating out and beating out a -You thinkIt’s a happy beat?Listen to it closely:Ain’t you heardsomething underneathlike a -What did I say?Sure,I’m happy!Take it away!Dream BoogieHey, pop!Re-bop!Mop!Y-e-a-h!

What happens to a dream deferred?

Yet the ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond-jade, Are only silly puppet gods That people themselves Have made.-

Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.

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 Will know sweet freedom’s way, Where greed no longer saps the soul Nor avarice blights our day. A world I dream where black or white, Whatever race...

Books -where if people suffered, they suffered in beautiful language, not in monosyllables, as we did in Kansas

I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.

Oh, God of Dust and Rainbows,Help us to seeThat without the dust the rainbowWould not be.

Pleasured equallyIn seeking as in finding,Each detail minding,Old Walt went seekingAnd finding.

Though you may hear me holler,And you may see me cry–I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,If you gonna see me die.

Question and AnswerDurban, Birmingham,Cape Town, Alabama,Johannesburg, Watts,The earth aroundStruggling, fighting,Dying–for what?A world to gain.Groping, hoping,Waiting–for what?A world to gain.Dreams kicked asunder,Why not go under?There’s a world to gain.But suppose I don’t want it,Why take it?To remake it.

Words Like FreedomThere are words like FreedomSweet and wonderful to say.On my heartstrings freedom singsAll day everyday.There are words like LibertyThat almost make me cry.If you had known what I knowYou would know why.

FreedomIs a strong seedPlantedIn a great need.I live here, too.I want freedomJust as you.

Humor is laughing at what you haven’t got when you ought to have it.

LIBERTY! FREEDOM! DEMOCRACY!True anyhow no matter how manyLiars use those words.

Well, son, I’ll tell you:Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.It’s had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor –Bare.But all the timeI’se been a-climbin’ on,And reachin’ landin’s,And turnin’ corners,And sometimes goin’ in the darkWhere there ain’t been no light.So boy, don’t you turn back.Don’t you set...

So since I’m still here livin’,I guess I will live on.I could’ve died for love–But for livin’ I was born.

Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.

I, too, sing America.I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.Tomorrow,I’ll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody’ll dareSay to me,”Eat in the kitchen,”Then.Besides,They’ll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed–I, too, am America.

OppressionNow dreamsAre not availableTo the dreamers,Nor songsTo the singers.In some landsDark nightAnd cold steelPrevail–But the dreamWill come back,And the songBreakIts jail.

My old man’s a white old manAnd my old mother’s black.If ever I cursed my white old manI take my curses back.If ever I cursed my black old motherAnd wished she were in hell,I’m sorry for that evil wishAnd now i wish her wellMy old man died in a fine big houseMy Ma died in...

I’ve known rivers:I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Looks like what drives me crazyDon’t have no effect on you–But I’m gonna keep on at itTill it drives you crazy, too.

I went down to the river,I set down on the bank.I tried to think but couldn’t,So I jumped in and sank.

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams,For if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged bird,That cannot fly.

The Dream KeeperBring me all of your dreams,You dreamer,Bring me all yourHeart melodiesThat I may wrap themIn a blue cloud-clothAway from the too-rough fingersOf the world.

I was unhappy for a long time, and very lonesome, living with my grandmother. Then it was that books began to happen to me, and I began to believe in nothing but books and the wonderful world in books — where if people suffered, they suffered in beautiful language, not in monosyllables, as we did...

Life is for the living.Death is for the dead.Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.