Countee Cullen

With two white roses on her breasts,
White candles at head and feet,
Dark Madonna of the grave she rests;
Lord Death has found her sweet

What is Africa to me:
Copper sun or scarlet sea,
Jungle star or jungle track,
Strong bronzed men, or regal

Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee;
I saw a
Keep looking straight at me

I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth,
And laid them away in a box of gold;
Where long will cling the lips of the moth,
I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth;

This is not water running here,
These thick rebellious
That hurtle flesh and bone past
Down alleyways of

She went to buy a brand new hat,
And she was ugly, black, and fat:"This red becomes you well," they said,
And perched it high upon her head
And then they laughed behind her

She even thinks that up in heaven    Her class lies late and
While poor black cherubs rise at seven    To do celestial chores