The Root's Faves: The Poetry Edition

June 27, 1872-Feb. 9, 1906

"We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes, — This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties."

Excerpted from "We Wear the Mask"

Feb. 1, 1902-May 22, 1967

"What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore — And then run?"

Excerpted from "Harlem"

Sept. 15, 1889-May 22, 1948

"If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs"

Excerpted from "If We Must Die"

"my papa thot he was puerto rican & we wda been cept we waz just reglar niggahs wit hints of Spanish so off i made it to this 36 hour marathon dance con salsa con Ricardo"

Excerpted from For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf

"It's in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me."

Excerpted from "Phenomenal Woman"

"When I die, the consciousness I carry I will to black people. May they pick me apart and take the Useful parts, the sweet meat of my feelings."

Excerpted from "leroy"

"On suffering, which is real. On the mouth that never closes, the air that dries the mouth"

Excerpted from "Autumn Passage"

June 7, 1917-Dec. 3, 2000

"We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight."

Excerpted from "We Real Cool"

"nothing will keep us young you know not young men or women who spin their youth on cool playing sounds"

Excerpted from "Personal Letter No. 3"

"On a trip north I caught a cold and blew my nose giving oil to the Arab world I am so hip — even my errors are correct I sailed east to reach west — and had to round off the earth as I went The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid across three continents"

Excerpted from "Ego Tripping"

"Velvet fruit, exquisite square I hold up to sniff Between finger and thumb — "

Excerpted from "Chocolate"

"When I awake I will be white, the color of law. I will be new, clean, good; and as pure as snow. I will remember 'being black' the way one experiences deja vu, as shadow-memory-feeling. Race will return to its original association with running and winning, though I will never have to do either (ever again) to prove myself Olympic, human or equal."

Excerpted from "Race Change Operation"

June 27, 1936-Feb. 13, 2010

"these hips are big hips they need space to move around in. they don't fit into little petty places. these hips are free hips."

Excerpted from "homage to my hips"

July 9, 1936-June 14, 2002

"Outside the leaves flame usual in darkness and the rain falls cool and blessed on the holy flesh the black men waiting on the corner for a womanly mirage I am amazed by peace"

Excerpted from "Poem for My Love"

June 16, 1971-Sept. 13, 1996

"Did u hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete Proving nature's laws wrong it learned 2 walk without having feet"

Excerpted from "The Rose That Grew From Concrete"

"Gotta love us brown girls, munching on fat, swinging blue hips, decked out in shells and splashes, Lawdie, bringing them woo hips."

Excerpted from "Hip-Hop Ghazal"

"For me, the movie starts with a black man Leaping into an orbit of badges, tiny moons

Catching the sheen of his perfect black afro."

Excerpted from "Enter the Dragon"