Minstrel Man

❦

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?

More poems by Langston Hughes

Love / Is a ripe plum

I've known rivers: / I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the

It was a long time ago. / I have almost forgotten my dream.

I been scared and battered. / My hopes the wind done scattered.