African American Poetry (1870-1928): A Digital Anthology

Clarissa Scott Delany, "Joy" (1927)

JOY

Joy shakes me like the wind that lifts a sail,
Like the roistering wind
That laughs through stalwart pines.
It floods me like the sun
On rain-drenched trees
That flash with silver and green.
I abandon myself to joy-
I laugh-I sing.
Too long have I walked a desolate way,
Too long stumbled down a maze
Bewildered.


Published in Caroling Dusk1927