"Sence you went away" by James Weldon Johnson

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend August 4, 2018   Sence you went away   James Weldon Johnson

Seems lak to me de stars don't shine so bright, Seems lak to me de sun done loss his light, Seems lak to me der's nothin' goin' right,     Sence you went away.   Seems lak to me de sky ain't half so blue, Seems lak to me dat ev'ything wants you, Seems lak to me I don't know what to do,     Sence you went away.   Seems lake to me dat ev'ything is wrong, Seems lak to me de day's jes twice es long, Seems lak to me de bird's forgot his song,     Sence you went away.   Seems lak to me I jes can't he'p but sigh, Seems lak to me ma th'oat keeps gettin' dry, Seems lak to me a tear stays in ma eye,     Sence you went away.                This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "Sence you went away" was originally published in The Book of American Negro Poetry (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922).   James Weldon Johnson was born on June 17, 1871, in Jacksonville, Florida. His books include Fifty Years and Other Poems (The Cornhill Company, 1917) and God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (Viking Press, 1927). He died on June 26, 1938. Poetry by Johnson   God's Trombones (Penguin Books, 2008) "The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes "Spring 1931" by Sam Cornish "I'm a Fool to Love You" by Cornelius Eady August Guest Editor: Evie Shockley   Thanks to Evie Shockley, author of semiautomatic (Wesleyan University Press, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day this month. Read more about Shockley​ and our guest editors for the year. Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038