Dear Langston,

I've known rivers too
hills and valleys 
swam streams and moved mountains 
with the convictions of my character

see, I've been listening to the ages 
as they speak to me on the whispers of wisdom

I've learned to cry as a man and still stand
I've known rivers too

Days have sat up with me on the lawn of my remdemption 
until midnight came to rock me to sleep
to dream of many more rivers to cross

I've known rivers too Langston
and screams and dreams deferred
I also am among the darker brothers
who ate in the kitchen when company came

I was conceived in the mud and came out a black rose, 
plucked from my kingdom to be a slave for my beauty
I too dream of america, the beautiful
that I am