Poems by Langston Hughes

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 .

Langston Hughes

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The Dream Keeper

I loved my friend.

He went away from me.

There's nothing more to say.

The poem ends,

Soft as it began ––

I loved my friend.

Langston Hughes

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Dreams

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

 

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Langston Hughes

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Harlem

What 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?

Langston Hughes

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Troubled Woman

She stands

In the quiet darkness,

This troubled woman

Bowed by

Weariness and pain

Like an autumn flower

In the frozen rain,

Like a

Wind-blown autumn flower

That never lifts its head

Again

 

Langston Hughes

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2 comments:

  1. we never paid any heeds to the ancient prophecies,like fools we clung to the old hatreds , and fought as we had for generations,unti the day sky rained fire, and a new enemy came upon us , we stand now upon the brink of destruction , for the rein of chaos has com at last.

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  2. Harlem was the very dream black Americans sought and they poured from every nook and cranny into it. But the outcome was a dream deferred. What a bitter irony. The more they yearned, the less they gained.

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