Mr. Africa Poetry Lounge!
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.
Written by James Baldwin (1924-1987)
<----> SEND THIS POEM TO A FRIEND! <---->