But there are certain very practical things American Negro writers can do. And must do. There's a song that says, "the time ain't long." That song is right. Something has got to change in America-and change soon. We must help that change to come.

I felt very bad in Washington. . . I didn't like my job, and I didn't know what was going to happen to me, and I was cold and half-hungry, so I wrote a great many poems.

Harriet Tubman lived to see the harvest.

I stuck my head out the window this morning and spring kissed me bang in the face.

Everything there is but lovin' leaves a rust on your old soul

I am a Negro: Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa.

A dog gets lonesome just like a human. He wants to associate with other dogs, but when they take him out, the poor dog is on a leash and cannot run around.