Harlem Night Song by Langston Hughes
31 Days of Poetry: Day Twenty
For the month of August I’ll be participating in The Sealey Challenge and attempting to read a book of poetry every day (or at least a poem or two), and every day I’ll be sharing a poem with you. If poetry isn’t your thing, a month isn’t too long a time, I promise. But if it is, I hope this series affords you an opportunity to discover some new favourites or revisit some old ones.
The 20th of August’s offering is ‘Harlem Night Song’ by Langston Hughes (1901-1967), which was first published in his collection, ‘The Weary Blues’ (Alfred A. Knopf, 1926), and republished in Langston Hughes: Selected Poems (Serpent’s Tail, 1999; 2020).
Harlem Night Song
Come,
Let us roam the night together
Singing.
I love you.
Across
The Harlem roof-tops
Moon is shining.
Night sky is blue.
Stars are great drops
Of golden dew.
Down the street
A band is playing.
I love you.
Come,
Let us roam the night together
Singing.The romance of this poem, the images it conjures of these people finding such joy in each other’s company, and the vibrant, unhindered clarity of the statement, ‘I love you’ moves me every time.
And then there’s the moon again, working its magic and shining its light on the moments you least want to forget and so desperately hope you’ll always remember. It’s just so lovely.
See you on day twenty-one,
Tasnim