African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

Ann Lawrence, "The Span of Life" (1927)

The Span of Life

By Ann Lawrence 

In the morning of life
We till our soil.
We plough and harrow too;
There is precious little
Time to waste,
For at noon-time we are through.

In the afternoon
We plant our seed
For the crop we hope to grow.
And the product of
The after-years,
Is the crop that now we sow.

At even-tide
We gather in
The crop that we have grown.
Be it good or evil;
Wheat or tare,
We reap what we have sown.

Then-till and harrow
Well your soil.
And plant your seed with care;
For you reap what you sow
In a span of life
Sometime, somehow, somewhere.


Published in The Messenger, January 1927

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