Poem of the Week (1)

This is the very first Poem of the Week, a weekly literary recommendation of poetry for the soul. 

This week I recommend Song for a Dark Girl by Langston Hughes. The poem tragically narrates the death of a black young woman, victim of a lynching. A grim reminder of the racist acts at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States, Song for a Dark Girl certainly expresses how segregation truly is an enemy of humanity.

Song for a Dark Girl
Langston Hughes

Way Down South in Dixie
(Break the heart of me)
They hung my black young lover
To a cross roads tree. 

Way Down South in Dixie
(Bruised body high in air)
I asked the white Lord Jesus
What was the use of prayer.

Way Down South in Dixie
(Break the heart of me)
Love is a naked shadow
On a gnarled and naked tree.

For more details and interpretations of the poem, click HERE.