POEM FOR A MAN
by
Langston Hughes

To A. Philip Randolph
on his 70th Birthday

Poem for a man
Who has lived / Seventy years of life
And strife
And emerged grand
In spite of errors here
And errors there
And pitfalls ---
This compromise and that required
That the dream he sired
Might in part be realized.

Poem for a man
Of flesh and blood
And human as you and I
And lost at sea
In waves of other lost humanity,
But holding somehow high
A flag with spar and star
For you and me.

Poem for a man
Who put his hand
Upon a dream of human dignity

2nd draft,
Dec. 3, 1959,
New York,
Dec. Langston Hughes

Poem for a man
Who put his hand upon a dream to
Upon a dream of human dignity
And held it there---
And took his other hand
To try to wipe the mud away,
The mud that spattered everywhere:
"And who are you to think
You lead the Negro people?"

And who are you to ask,
"And who are you?"

Poem for a man
Who plays the checkered game
Of king jump king---
And jupms a President:
That order 8802
For me and you
And porters on a railroad car
Who make,
Each time they make a bed,
A hammock on a star
That sings in space
The dawn-song
Of a race.

Poem for a man
All these years
Grand!

And held it there---

And took his other hand

To try to wipe the mud away

That spattered every here

And jumps a President:
Executive
that Order 8602

(Each time they make a bed)
A hammock on a star
That sings in space
The dawn-song
Of a race.

Poem for a man---
All these years

Grand!

In questions
asked in scorn:

Poem for a man---2

Poem for a man
Who put his hand
Upon a dream of human dignity
And held it there---
And took his other hand
To try to wipe away the mud
That spattered everywhere
In questions asked in scorn:
"And who are you to think
You lead the Negro people?"

Poem for a man
Who plays the checkered game
Of king jump king---
And jumps a President:
Executive Order 8802
For me and you
And porters on a railroad car
Who make
(Each time they make a bed)
A hammock on a star
That sings in space
The dawn-song
Of a race.

Poem for a man---2

Poem for a man
Who plays the checkered game
Of king jump king---
And jumps a President:
Executive Order 8802
For me and you
And porters on a railroad car
Who make
(Each time they make a bed)
A hammock on a star
That sings in space
The dawn-song
Of a race.
Poem for a man---
All these years
Grand!