Langston Hughes

Lincoln Theatre

The head of Lincoln looks down from the wall While movies echo dramas on the screen. The head of Lincoln is serenely tall Above a crowd of black folk, humble, mean. The movies end. The lights flash gaily on. The band down in the pit bursts into jazz. The crowd applauds a plump brown-skin bleached blonde Who sings the troubles every woman has. She snaps her fingers, slowly shakes her hips, And cries, all careless-like from reddened lips! De man I loves has Gone and done me wrong . . . While girls who wash rich white folks clothes by day And sleek-haired boys who deal in love for pay Press hands together, laughing at her song.