It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun—
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky—
The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun—
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky—
The wall.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!
God, he wrote such gorgeous poetry.
ReplyDeleteYes he did, and powerful.
DeleteI just ordered "The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes." It's a nice fat volume of everything he wrote. I can't wait.
Wow. Beautiful poem. This one is indeed powerful. And the title is very apt, even when it is mentioned nowhere in the poem. It goes to show that as we grow older, we forget our dreams that gives us sun, light, life, and motivation. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete... but it's never too late to break through and find our dreams again!
Delete