Wake Cry

He was a good man.
All men have to die.

O Death,
Did you ever
Fall on your knees
In tears an’ cry?

He was a good man,
Hear the widow moan.

O Death,
Do you weep—
Or is your heart
Made o’ stone?

Credit

From The Book of American Negro Poetry (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922), edited by James Weldon Johnson. This poem is in the public domain.