Langston Hughes, "Harlem Night Club" (1926)
Jazz-band , jazz-band,----
Play, plAY, PLAY!
Tomorrow. . . . who knows?
Dance today!
White girls' eyes
Call gay black boys.
Black boys' lips
Grin jungle joys.
Dark brown girls
In blond men's arms.
Jazz-band, jazz-band,----
Sing Eve's charms!
White ones, brown ones,
What do you know
About tomorrow
Where all paths go?
Jazz-boys, jazz-boys,
Play, plAY, PLAY!
Tomorrow. . . . is darkness.
Joy today!
Published in The Weary Blues, 1926