The sky hangs heavy tonight
Like the hair of a Negro woman.
The scars of the moon are curved
Like the wrinkles on the brow of a Negro woman.
The stars twinkle tonight
Like the glaze in a Negro woman’s eyes,
Drinking the tears set flowing by aging hurt
Gnawing at her heart
The earth trembles tonight
Like the quiver of a Negro woman’s eye-lids cupping tears…
Copyright 1927, by Harper & Row publishers.