Song for a Dark Girl

Way down south in Dixie Bane of my existence, There is a girl who sleeps, A flower in the dark’s embrace: And she dreams about the blooming Of golden yellow, like the sun’s rays, In her heart, there lingers The song of the rivers and trees.

Way down there, She sways to the lullabies Of night time’s caress, Her dreams uncaptured, In the beauty of the moonlight.

And I, a wanderer, Ride with the winds, Gathering tales of the earth, As I hear her heartbeat, A rhythm in the soul, The dream of a song.

I know that down south in Dixie, Life blooms in the shadow’s hold. Far beneath stars and stillness, She sings her song of the night.

• Langston Hughes