Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems by James Baldwin Read Free Book Online Page A

wisdom.
    So much for age.
    You have humbled me, my friend,
    who, now, must learn to live without you.
    I will miss, forever,
    your eyes, your walk,
    your talk—enough
    My friend, Miss Lena Horne,
    and many other saints
    sing you, my darling,
    into the womb of eternity.
    Therefore, farewell,
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â for now:
    Dig you, later: alligator.

Untitled
    Lord,
    when you send the rain,
    think about it, please,
    a little?
    Do
    not get carried away
    by the sound of falling water,
    the marvelous light
    on the falling water.
    I
    am beneath that water.
    It falls with great force
    and the light
    Blinds
    me to the light.

BALLAD (for Yoran)
    I
    Started to leave
    and couldn’t go
    for a Yes
    or for a No.
    Watched the silver tracks turn black
    as my lover’s back.
    Stood there through the night
    watched the black turn white.
    Started to leave, but couldn’t go:
    for a Yes, or for a No.
    Heard the thunder,
    saw his face,
    lightning played around the place
    where I stood, and couldn’t go
    for a Yes, or for a No.
    II
    The hardest thing of all
    is hearing the silence fall—
    or, no, to see it,
    touch it,
    watch silence take a form,
    watch silence proudly stride
    between connecting rooms,
    hear silence ride
    between, between,
    between
    you, and all others,
    you
    and
    you.
    Oh, Brother, say:
    I couldn’t hear nobody pray.
    Ill
    The silence coming yonder
    is far from grief
    and brings relief.
    Beyond time
    there is no wonder
    there is no crime.
    they say:
    Brother,
    just between me and you
    tell me if it’s true!
    They say
    silence brings no anguish
    where only silence lives:
    negatives,
    affirmatives.

Beacon Press
    Boston, Massachusetts
    www.beacon.org
    Beacon Press books
    are published under the auspices of the
    Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
    For poems from
Jimmy’s Blues
: Copyright © 1983, 1985 James Baldwin
    For poems from
Gypsy
: Copyright © 1989 David Baldwin
    This collection: Copyright © 2014 The James Baldwin Estate
    All rights reserved
    Printed in the United States of America
    This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the uncoated paper ANSI/NISO specifications for permanence as revised in 1992.
    Text design by Gabi Anderson and Ruth Maassen
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Baldwin, James, 1924–1987
    Â Â [Poems. Selections]
    Â Â Jimmy’s blues and other poems / James Baldwin ; with an introduction by Nikky Finney.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â pages cm
    Â Â ISBN 978-0-8070-8486-1 (paperback : acid-free paper)—ISBN 978-0-8070-8487-8 (ebook)
    Â Â I. Finney, Nikky. II. Title.
    Â Â PS3552.A45A6 2014
    Â Â 811ˊ.54—dc23
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