Selected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes Read Free Book Online Page B

you?
    He said, You know
    Your rent is due.
    I said, Listen,
    Before I’d pay
    I’d go to Hades
    And rot away!
    The sink is broke,
    The water don’t run,
    And you ain’t done a thing
    You promised to’ve done.
    Back window’s cracked,
    Kitchen floor squeaks,
    There’s rats in the cellar,
    And the attic leaks.
    He said, Madam,
    It’s not up to me.
    I’m just the agent,
    Don’t you see?
    I said, Naturally,
    You pass the buck.
    If it’s money you want
    You’re out of luck.
    He said, Madam,
    I ain’t pleased!
    I said, Neither am I.
    So we agrees!
Madam and the Number Writer
    Number runner
    Come to my door.
    I had swore
    I wouldn’t play no more.
    He said, Madam,
    6–0–2
    Looks like a likely
    Hit for you.
    I said, Last night,
    I dreamed 7–0–3.
    He said, That might
    Be a hit for me.
    He played a dime,
    I played, too,
    Then we boxed ’em.
    Wouldn’t you?
    But the number that day
    Was 3–2–6—
    And we both was in
    The
same
old fix.
    I said, I swear I
    Ain’t gonna play no more
    Till I get over
    To the other shore—
    Then I can play
    On them golden streets
    Where the number not only
    Comes out—but repeats!
    The runner said, Madam,
    That’s all very well—
    But suppose
    You goes to hell?
Madam and the Phone Bill
    You say I O.K.ed
    LONG DISTANCE?
    O.K.ed it when?
    My goodness, Central,
    That was
then!
    I’m mad and disgusted
    With that Negro now.
    I don’t pay no REVERSED
    CHARGES nohow.
    You say, I will pay it—
    Else you’ll take out my phone?
    You better let
    My phone alone.
    I didn’t ask him
    To telephone me.
    Roscoe knows darn well
    LONG DISTANCE
    Ain’t free.
    If I ever catch him,
    Lawd, have pity!
    Calling me up
    From Kansas City
    Just to say he loves me!
    I knowed that was so.
    Why didn’t he tell me some’n
    I don’t know?
    For instance, what can
    Them other girls do
    That Alberta K. Johnson
    Can’t do—
and more, too?
    What’s that, Central?
    You say you don’t care
    Nothing about my
    Private affair?
    Well, even less about your
    PHONE BILL does I care!
    Un-humm-m! … Yes!
    You say I gave my O.K.?
    Well, that O.K. you may keep—
    But I
sure
ain’t gonna pay!
Madam and the Charity Child
    Once I adopted
    A little girl child.
    She grew up and got ruint,
    Nearly drove me wild.
    Then I adopted
    A little boy.
    He used a switch-blade
    For a toy.
    What makes these charity
    Children so bad?
    Ain’t had no luck
    With none I had.
    Poor little things,
    Born behind the 8-rock,
    With parents that don’t even
    Stop to take stock.
    The county won’t pay me
    But a few bucks a week.
    Can’t raise no child on that,
    So to speak.
    And the lady from the
    Juvenile Court
    Always coming around
    Wanting a report.
    Last time I told her,
    Report, my eye!
    Things is bad—
    You figure out why!
Madam and the Fortune Teller
    Fortune teller looked in my hand.
    Fortune teller said,
    Madam, It’s just good luck
    You ain’t dead.
    Fortune teller squeeze my hand.
    She squinted up her eyes.
    Fortune teller said,
    Madam, you ain’t wise.
    I said, Please explain to me
    What you mean by that?
    She said, You must recognize
    Where your fortune’s at.
    I said, Madam, tell me—
    For she was
Madam
, too—
    Where
is
my fortune at?
    I’ll pay some mind to you.
    She said, Your fortune, honey,
    Lies right in yourself.
    You ain’t gonna find it
    On nobody else’s shelf.
    I said, What
man
you’re talking ’bout?
    She said, Madam! Be calm—
    For one more dollar and a half,
    I’ll read your other palm.
Madam and the Wrong Visitor
    A man knocked three times.
    I never seen him before.
    He said, Are you Madam?
    I said, What’s the score?
    He said, I reckon
    You don’t know my name,
    But I’ve come to call
    On you just the same.
    I stepped back
    Like he had a charm.
    He said, I really
    Don’t mean no harm.
    I’m just Old Death
    And I thought I might
    Pay you a visit
    Before night.
    He said, You’re Johnson—
    Madam Alberta K.?
    I said, Yes—but
Alberta
    Ain’t goin’ with you today!
    No sooner had I told