Freedom

By Langston Hughes
Freedom will not come
Today, this year
            Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
 
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
            To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
 
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
            Freedom
            Is a strong seed
            Planted
            In a great need.
            I live here, too.
            I want my freedom
            Just as you.   
 

Copyright Credit: Langston Hughes, "Freedom [1]" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.
Source: The Collected Works of Langston Hughes.  (University of Missouri Press (BkMk Press), 2002)