Dream-singers,
Story-tellers,
Dancers,
Loud laughers in the hands of Fate—
    My people.
Dish-washers,
Elevator-boys,
Ladies' maids,
Crap-shooters,
Cooks,
Waiters,
Jazzers,
Nurses of babies,
Loaders of ships,
Rounders,
Number writers,
Comedians in vaudeville
And band-men in circuses—
Dream-singers all,—
    My people.
Story-tellers all,—
    My people.
     Dancers—
God! What dancers!
     Singers—
God! What singers!
Singers and dancers
Dancers and laughers.
     Laughers?
 Yes, laughers . . . laughers . . . laughers—
Loud-mouthed laughers in the hands
     Of Fate.

(first published as ‘My People’ in Crisis, 1921)