African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

Langston Hughes, "Grant Park" (1924)

The haunting face of poverty,
The hands of pain,
The rough, gargantuan feet of fate,
The nails of conscience in a soul
That didn't want to do wrong----
You can see what they've done
To brothers of mine
In one back-yard of Fifth Avenue.
You can see what they've done
To brothers of mine----
Sleepers on iron benches
Behind the Library in Grant Park.


Published in The Messenger, March 1924

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