Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Heritage" (1923)
Pulling at the clouds
With little pointed fingers. . . .
I want to see lithe negro girls,
Etched dark against the sky
While sunset lingers.
I wan to hear the silent sands,
Singing to the moon
Before the Sphinx-still face. . . .
I want to hear the chanting
Around a heathen fire
Of a strange black race.
I want to breathe the Lotus flow'r,
Sighing to the stars
With tendrils drinking at the Nile. . . .
I want to feel the surging
Of my sad people's soul
Hidden by a minstrel-smile.
Published in Opportunity, December 1923