||| FROM JOELLEN MOLDOFF |||
It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun,—
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose slowly, slowly,
Dimming,
Hiding,
The light of my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky,—
The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on February 5, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.
James Mercer Langston Hughes, born on February 1, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri, was a poet, essayist, novelist, editor, and primary influence known for his insightful portrayals of Black life in America from the 1920s to the 1960s. He also wrote short stories and plays, and is known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing. He died on May 22, 1967, in New York City.
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