Langston Hughes, "To a Negro Jazz Band in a Parisian Cabaret" (1925)
Jazz band!
Play it for the lords and ladies,
For the dukes and counts,
For the whores and gigolos,
For the American millionaires,
And the love-night painted faces
Of American millionaires,
And the school teachers out for a spree.
Play it!
Jazz band!
You know that tune
That laughs and cries at the same time.
You know it.
May I?
Mais oui.
Mein Gott!
Parece una rumba.
! Que Rumba!
Play it, jazz band!
You've got seven languages to speak in
And then some.
Can I?
Sure.
Published in The Crisis, December 1925