Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,
Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,
And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,
Set in the window, bringing memories
Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,
And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies
In benediction over nun-like hills.
My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;
A wave of longing through my body swept,
And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,
I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.
(Claude McKay)
More Poetry from Claude McKay:
- Two-An'-Six (Claude McKay Poems)
- To The White Fiends (Claude McKay Poems)
- The Negro's Friend (Claude McKay Poems)
- White Houses (Claude McKay Poems)
- When I Have Passed Away (Claude McKay Poems)
- Courage (Claude McKay Poems)