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

Gladys May Casely-Hayford (Aqua Laluah), "Poem" (1927)

Editor's Note: "Aqua Laluah" was the penname of Gladys May Casely-Hayford

Poem

By Aquah Lalulah

Why do the bards of black folk
Sing grief brushed over with gladness?
Because God sculptured the soul of the race
In a moment of wistful sadness.

Why do the bards of black folk
Sing joy that follows all sorrow?
God’s tool when He sculptured the soul of the race
Was “The Hope of the Unborn Morrow.”


Published in The Crisis, October 1927