THE BARRIER
by: Claude McKay (1890-1948)
- MUST not
gaze at them although
- Your eyes are dawning day;
- I must not watch you as you go
- Your sun-illumined way;
-
- I hear but I must never heed
- The fascinating note,
- Which, fluting like a river reed,
- Comes from your trembing throat;
-
- I must not see upon your face
- Love's softly glowing spark;
- For there's the barrier of race,
- You're fair and I am dark.
"The Barrier" is reprinted
from Harlem Shadows. Claude McKay. New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Company, 1922. |
MORE
POEMS BY CLAUDE MCKAY |
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