Jessie Fauset (Jessie Redmon Fauset), "Nostalgia" (1927)
On the road to Nostalgia,
Sighing and sagging and quaking;
Letme breath to the heart of your walls
A secret--
To keep it from breaking.
Once in a Harlem cellar,
A brown girl,
Wiggling and strutting
In a stranger's arms,
Dreaming of you
For a God-given moment--
Forgot to proffer her charms.
Published in Black Opals, Christmas 1927