Poetry Moment
DAWN
An angel, robed in spotless white,
Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.
--Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Poet
He sang of life, serenely sweet,
With, now and then, a deeper note.
From some high peak, nigh yet remote,
He voiced the world's absorbing beat.
He sang of love when earth was young,
And love, itself, was in his lays.
But ah, the world, it turned to praise
A jingle in a broken tongue.
--Paul Laurence Dunbar
To Satch
Sometimes I feel like I will never stop
Just go forever
Till one fine morning
I'll reach up and grab me a handful of stars
And swing out my long lean leg
And whip three hot strikes burning down the
heavens
And look over at God and say
How about that?
--Samuel Allen
Street Demonstration
We're hoping to be arrested
And hoping to go to jail
We'll sing and shout and pray
For Freedom and for Justice
And for Human Dignity
The fighting may be long
And some of us will die
But Liberty is costly
And Rome they say to me
Was not built in one day.
--Margaret Walker
I Take Master Card
I've heard all the stories
'bout how you don't deserve me
'cause I'm so strong and beautiful and wonderful and you could
never live up to what you know I should have but I just want to let
you know:
I take Master Card
You can love me as much as your heart can stand
then put the rest on
account and pay the interest
each month until we get this settled
You see we modern women do comprehend
that we deserve a whole lot more
than what is normally being offered but we are trying
to get aligned with the modern world
So baby you can love me all
you like 'cause you're pre-approved
and you don't have to sign on
the bottom line
Charge it up
'til we just can't take no more
it's the modern way
I take Master Card
to see your Visa
and I deal with a Discovery but I don't want any American
Express 'cause like the Pointer Sisters say: I need a slow hand
--Nikki Giovanni