White ones, brown ones, What do you know About tomorrow Where all paths go? Jazz-boys, jazz-boys,— Play, plAY, PLAY! Tomorrow....is darkness. Joy today! NUDE YOUNG DANCER What jungle tree have you slept under, Midnight dancer of the jazzy hour? What great forest has hung its perfume Like a sweet veil about your bower? What jungle tree have you slept under, Night-dark girl of the swaying hips? What star-white moon has been your mother? To what clean boy have you offered your lips? YOUNG PROSTITUTE Her dark brown face Is like a withered flower On a broken stem. Those kind come cheap in Harlem So they say. TO A BLACK DANCER IN “THE LITTLE SAVOY” Wine-maiden Of the jazz-tuned night, Lips Sweet as purple dew, Breasts Like the pillows of all sweet dreams, Who crushed The grapes of joy And dripped their juice On you? SONG FOR A BANJO DANCE Shake your brown feet, honey, Shake your brown feet, chile, Shake your brown feet, honey, Shake ’em swift and wil’— Get way back, honey, Do that low-down step. Walk on over, darling, Now! Come out With your left. Shake your brown feet, honey, Shake ’em, honey chile. Sun’s going down this evening— Might never rise no mo’. The sun’s going down this very night— Might never rise no mo’— So dance with swift feet, honey, (The banjo’s sobbing low) Dance with swift feet, honey— Might never dance no mo’. Shake your brown feet, Liza, Shake ’em, Liza, chile, Shake your brown feet, Liza, (The music’s soft and wil’) Shake your brown feet, Liza, (The banjo’s sobbing low) The sun’s going down this very night— Might never rise no mo’. BLUES FANTASY Hey! Hey! That’s what the Blues singers say. Singing minor melodies They laugh, Hey! Hey! My man’s done left me, Chile, he’s gone away. My good man’s left me, Babe, he’s gone away. Now the cryin’ blues Haunts me night and day. Hey!...Hey! Weary, Weary, Trouble, pain. Sun’s gonna shine Somewhere Again. I got a railroad ticket, Pack my trunk and ride. Sing ’em, sister! Got a railroad ticket, Pack my trunk and ride. And when I get on the train I’ll cast my blues aside. Laughing, Hey!...Hey! Laugh a loud, Hey! Hey! LENOX AVENUE: MIDNIGHT The rhythm of life Is a jazz rhythm, Honey. The gods are laughing at us. The broken heart of love, The weary, weary heart of pain,— Overtones, Undertones, To the rumble of street cars, To the swish of rain.