Great man of your time, <br />poet of verse and poet of rhyme <br />you let the white man know <br />how easy it is to let go <br />the built up resentment and woe <br />that's inflicted on skin darker than snow. <br /> <br />All you did was pick up the pen. <br />All you did over and again <br />was to relate to the entire world through word <br />all that needed to be heard. <br />Radical political action proposed in poetry <br />was an affront to the white man's psyche. <br /> <br />Your words were written for all to understand. <br />You words were written to take command <br />of the ones who heard them <br />spit out like phlegm. <br />But always your hope for equality <br />was written in your poetry. <br /> <br />Great seer and seeker your words still live, <br />live in the hearts of the forgotten ones <br />who still feel the frustrating horizons <br />that loom in the future. <br />And to those who've come a long way today <br />your challenge to them is to have their say.<br /><br />Edwina Reizer<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ballad-of-langston-hughes/
