Cheap little rhymes A cheap little tune Are sometimes as dangerous As a sliver of the moon.

Peace We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark They could not see Who had gained The victory.

Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think I suffer after I have held my pain So long? Because my mouth Is wide with laughter You do not hear My inner cry? Because my feet Are gay with dancing You do not know I die?

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

Lawrence has a wonderful hill in it, with a university on top and the first time I ran away from home, I ran up the hill and looked across the world: Kansas wheat fields and the Kaw River, and I wanted to go some place, too. I got a whipping for it.

Why should I want to be white? I am a Negro - and beautiful!

These feet have walked ten thousand miles working for white folks and another ten thousand keeping up with colored.