Lovely, Dark, and Lonely One

Song
by Langston Hughes

Lovely, dark, and lonely one,
Bare your bosom to the sun.
Do not be afraid of light,
You who are a child of night.

Open wide your arms to life,
Whirl in the wind of pain and strife,
Face the wall with the dark closed gate,
Beat with bare, brown fists–
And wait.

–The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, p. 45