"La Vie C'est La Vie" by Jessie Redmon Fauset

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend April 13, 2019   La Vie C'est La Vie   Jessie Redmon Fauset

On summer afternoons I sit Quiescent by you in the park And idly watch the sunbeams gild And tint the ash-trees' bark. Or else I watch the squirrels frisk And chaffer in the grassy lane; And all the while I mark your voice Breaking with love and pain. I know a woman who would give Her chance of heaven to take my place; To see the love-light in your eyes, The love-glow on your face! And there's a man whose lightest word Can set my chilly blood afire; Fulfillment of his least behest Defines my life's desire. But he will none of me, nor I Of you. Nor you of her. 'Tis said The world is full of jests like these.— I wish that I were dead.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "La Vie C'est La Vie" was published in The Book of American Negro Poetry (Harcourt, Brace, 1922).   Jessie Redmon Fauset was born on April 27, 1882. The author of five novels, she primarily published her poetry in NAACP's official magazine The Crisis, which she became the literary editor of in 1919. She died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 30, 1961. "And You Thought You Were the Only One" by Mark Bibbins "Poem for Haruko" by June Jordan "Blueacre" by Monica Youn April Guest Editor: Tracy K. Smith   Thanks to Tracy K. Smith, poet laureate of the United States and author of Wade in the Water (Graywolf Press, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Smith about her curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. 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