Madam And The Phone Bill
You say I O.K.ed
LONG DISTANCE?
O.K.ed it when?
My goodness, Central
That was then!
I'm mad and disgusted
With that Negro now.
I don't pay no REVERSED
CHARGES nohow.
You say, I will pay it—
Else you'll take out my phone?
You better let
My phone alone.
I didn't ask him
To telephone me.
Roscoe knows darn well
LONG DISTANCE
Ain't free.
If I ever catch him,
Lawd, have pity!
Calling me up
From Kansas City.
Just to say he loves me!
I knowed that was so.
Why didn't he tell me some'n
I don't know?
For instance, what can
Them other girls do
That Alberta K. Johnson
Can't do—and more, too?
What's that, Central?
You say you don't care
Nothing about my
Private affair?
Well, even less about your
PHONE BILL, does I care!
Un-humm-m! . . . Yes!
You say I gave my O.K.?
Well, that O.K. you may keep—
But I sure ain't gonna pay!
Langston Hughes
Other author posts
Dream Variations
To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done.
Merry-Go-Round
Where is the Jim Crow section On this merry-go-round, Mister, cause I want to ride Down South where I come from White and colored Can't sit side by side Down South on the train There's a Jim Crow car
Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred Does it dry Like a raisin in the sun Or fester like a sore—And then run
Negro Dancers
Me an' ma Got two mo' ways, Two mo' ways to do de Charleston Da, da,
